European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 4, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Friday october 4, 1991 the stars and stripes Page 19 v is Quot avg v Quot s a it w a Quot a v Quot 76 face Job cuts As commissaries unite operations by Meridith Winder . Bureau fifty four local nationals and 22 . Civilians will lose their jobs at military food stores in Europe As a result of army air Force and Navy commissaries joining forces tuesday under a single Agency. Sixteen of the employees to be trimmed from the payrolls Are temporary employees said Denise m. Gomes a spokeswoman for the european Region of the newly formed defense commissary Agency. The Agency a european Region Headquarters Are at Ramstein a Germany. About 4,500 people work in the european regions 123 commissaries. The Job cuts Are just one aspect of consolidating the services commissary systems a move that has been underway since its approval by Congress in april 1990. At first customer probably wont notice any changes said Billie Grier commissary officer at Raf Lakenheath England. In the Long term however patrons May notice More differences As commissary officials throughout Europe review store hours streamline their ordering and shipment procedures and tackle other facets of running one major supermarket Chain instead of three. Officials said they could not address differences that had existed Between army air Force and Navy commissary stores. But under the consolidation they said All commissaries will be run by the same rules no matter where a person shops. Commissary officials generally Are enthusiastic about the impending consolidation saying that the changes afoot Are All to the Good. Consolidating purchases for instance will give the Agency a a lot More clout to get better prices and better deals a Grier said. As an example any army or air Force store that sold $2 million Worth of merchandise per month could negotiate with a Vendor to buy products said air Force it. Col. Melvin s. Slone United kingdom District director. Under the new system a merchandiser at Ramstein a represents 123 stores with More than $100 million in sales. A a we re talking bigger sales and a Vendor has an Opportunity to sell More products a Slone said. A the might be willing to Cut his margin a Little deeper so the Cus Tomer customers already save on food Bills when prices Are compared with those at civilian stores Slone pointed out. A shoppers Are buying items at Cost a Slone said. A we done to Mark up the prices. They the customers Only a 5 percent surcharge to cover construction costs. Workers salaries Are not paid by the a major change in overseas commissary operation is the establishment of Central distribution centers. One is being set up at Lakenheath to cover the United kingdom Region and another at Sermersheim Germany for Central Europe. A third one will be set up at Mechanicsburg pa., to cover the Mediterranean area and Iceland. It will also assist with the rest of Europe. Despite Mechanicsburg a distance from Europe defense commissary Agency officials believe it is an Ideal location for a distribution Center. A a Large depot is already located there a Gomes said. A a it a the Point where orders Are consolidated for shipment to commissaries in Europe if the order is Large enough to be shipped directly from the the centers will be used to hold Many of the products the commissary Sells thus reducing warehouse space at the stores. This concept also has an added Benefit Slone said. A a these centers will shorten the order shipment time a Slone said. A for instance when Lakenheath orders it takes them 75 to 90 Days from when they place the order to the time they get the product. With the cacs they should be Able to order two weeks from when they need the but the systems Success will depend on steady reliable transportation. A the biggest single problem will be transportation from the states a said Tom Miller warehouse manager at Lakenheath. A we Are fixed for transportation in the . Of course coming from the states we done to have a lot of control Over another warehouse worker Barry Archer has muted feelings about whether the Central distribution Center concept will work. A i done to necessarily agree with some of air Force maj. Kathleen Mclaughlin and her husband Robert Monzac compare brands of dog food at the Raf Lakenheath England commissary. The ideas but it should be Good fun a said Archer senior storekeeper who has worked at the commissary for three years. A if it runs like it should it will be great a Archer said. A during the first year there will be a lot of and Downs. One week we re going to get it right and the next it be totally Archer also thinks that the warehouse space May not be adequate. There currently Are no plans to expand any warehouses officials said but once the new management system has been in place for a while Many issues will be re examined they said. One Issue under study involves commissaries on Navy run bases. Unlike at army and air Force commissaries cigarettes currently Are not sold at most Navy food stores. A that Hasni to been determined yet a Gomes said of whether they will be sold there under the new management. A negotiations Are under Way at the defense department level. As soon As a decision is made Well let customers when it comes to the other merchandise on the shelf customers will see some new products added while other items disappear thanks to a Region Stock list. The Stock list is based on each stores category determined by volume of business Grier said. All products in each product category Are the top Selling items in stateside commercial grocery stores. If a product does no to sell or there is no real need for it in that stores location managers done to have to order it. At the same time if a product is not on that list customers can still make special requests and store managers can order that product. Patrons of smaller commissaries Hope that the consolidation will improve the Quantity and selection of goods on their stores shelves. A there is a big difference Between upper Heyford and Lakenheath a said air Force maj. Kathleen Mclaughlin. Mclauglin on temporary duty at la Ken Heath from Raf upper Heyford stopped at the commissary there with her husband Robert Monzie before heading Back to their Home base. The major said she had unsuccessfully searched for a particular Brand of canned Chili at her Home base commissary for months. She found it at Lakenheath. Senior airman Darrell Batton a shift worker at Raf Chicksands said he goes to the commissary at the Small base when it first opens and buys As Many items As possible before the store runs out. A a its going to be a lot better a Grier said of the consolidations effects on the commissaries. A a this change is going to Benefit the customer. That a what the whole thing is about a to provide better service to the 34 locations extend shopping hours thanks to results from customer Survey Washington a amps a thirty four commissaries throughout Europe Iceland and saudi Arabia will stay open longer beginning in october because of results collected in a defense commissary Agency Survey a spokesman said. More than 2,400 store customers questioned worldwide listed longer shopping hours As their greatest need said Mark Swearengen Agency spokesman. The Agency which officially assumed control of All the military services commissaries tuesday also took into account each stores sales volume and shopping density to select the facilities for expanded hours. Of the 411 military commissaries overseas and in the United states 166 were chosen to increase their operating hours. None of the stores will Cut shopping hours Swearengen said. Longer store hours in Europe Range from a High of 25 extra hours each week at Robinson Barracks in Stuttgart Germany to a weekly half hour extra at Raf Ben Waters England. Operating hours will be adjusted by individual store managers who Are expected to consult first with local commanders he said. The Agency expects to the added expense of keeping stores open longer with savings gleaned from centralized buying and consolidation of overhead functions above the local level Swearengen said. Under the consolidation four Headquarters were merged into one and 22 regions reduced to seven. The european Region will have its Headquarters at Ramstein a commissary hours affected commissaries on military installations in Europe Iceland and saudi Arabia with additional operating hours per week in bold Are pm slip a 2 Amberg Germany 3 bad nauheim Germany 5 Kef Lavik Iceland 1 bad Kissinger Germany 5 Naples Italy 3 bad Kreuz Nach Germany 1.5 Raf Ben Waters United kingdom 4 Baum older Germany .5 Raf Mildenhall United kingdom 1 Berlin 10 Raf Sculthorpe United kingdom 2 bin Diach Germany 6 Rhein main a Germany 1 Pitburg Germany 2 Riyadh saudi Arabia 2 Bodinger Germany 25 Robinson Barracks 2 chevres Belgium Stuttgart Germany 1 Darmstadt Germany 1 Rota Spain 2 Dhahran saudi Arabia .5 Semb Achab Germany 2 Fulda Germany 6 Span Dahlem Germany 3 Sermersheim Germany 2 Vicenza Italy 22 Hanau Germany 2 Vilseck Germany 2 Heidelberg Germany 2 Wilc Flecken Germany 2 holy Loch United kingdom 10 Wurzburg Germany 4 Karlsruhe Germany 1 we Brucken Germany
