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Although allocated a diminished departmental footprint compared with the previous year, the NAB Little Creek, Va., stationery area still had an excellent year in fiscal 2009, sporting an impressive sales gain in a smaller amount of space.

In-stocks at the NAB Little Creek stationery department on important categories such as writing instruments are monitored carefully in cooperation with headquarters buying staff, especially during the Back-to-School period.

According to Wanda Marshall, NAB Little Creek's consumables divisional manager (DMM), although the square footage of the department was trimmed by 36.8 percent, from 576 sq. ft. to 364 sq. ft. for basic merchandise, fiscal 2009 sales were $339,000, 9.1-percent better than a year earlier and 6.9 percent over plan.

“Customers shop the exchange's stationery department largely due to the aggressive advertising, great selection and the strong in-stocks all year and throughout the Back-to-School (BTS) season,” Marshall noted, adding that during BTS, the department expands by 120 sq. ft. of selling space to accommodate the increased inventory.

Breaking down the types of clientele that the department serves, she said the biggest segment is “full nesters,” at 31.1 percent, followed by “double dippers” (two incomes, husband and wife working) at 26.3 percent; “empty nesters” at 19.6 percent; senior shoppers at 14.6 percent; and “new arrivals” at 4.3 percent.

The Back-To-School (BTS) period accounted for 25 percent of fiscal 2009's total sales in stationery and home office departments, or around $10 million, supported by displays and shippers such as these at Hill AFB, Utah.

Although the Army & Air Force Exchange Service's (AAFES) fortunes in its stationery and home office departments took a slight dip during fiscal 2009 due to the country's economic recession, the departments are ready for a comeback during fiscal 2010.

Robert Schmid, AAFES stationery buyer, reported that total sales in these departments during fiscal 2009 were $40.6 million, a 2-percent sales dip from the nearly $41.5 million these areas reported during the previous year.

Between the two categories, stationery amounted to about 70 percent of total sales during fiscal 2009, or about $28.5 million, with home office reflecting about 30 percent of the total, or $12.1 million.

The Army & Air Force Exchange Service's (AAFES) Military Clothing Sales Store (MCSS) at the Wiesbaden, Germany, installation recently received a reset that provides patrons an easy to navigate facility that's in synch with the latest in tactical gear, uniforms and accessories.

MCSS Manager Ken Larsen and James Long, the MCSS supervisor, recently finished resetting the store so that the merchandise flows better from one department to another. The store merchandise is also patterned after all other MCSS venues, which allows customers who come from another location to easily find items they are looking for.

The reset of AAFES's Wiesbaden, Germany, MCSS was recently completed, allowing merchandise to flow better from one department to another.

Long said the store reset serves customers better by making the time spent in the store more efficient, and it also has reduced inventory and increased sales. “Now customers won't waste their time looking for or asking 'Where is the boot polish?' because the store layout is synchronized with other MCSSs,” Long said.

The Defense Commissary Agency's (DeCA) assortment of vitamins, supplements protein bars, energy bars and sports nutrition items continued to produce significant sales gains through fiscal 2009 and into fiscal 2010's first quarter.

DeCA Marketing Business Unit (MBU) Buyer Janet Berry reported that cumulative fiscal 2009 sales of energy and protein bars were $4.31 million, a 23.8-percent increase from the $3.48 million in activity registered during the previous year.

In fiscal 2010, through the first quarter, cumulative sales were $2.17 million, and Berry said the outlook for the entire fiscal year is that energy bars and protein bars will continue to increase sales by 9 percent.

Sports nutrition sales during fiscal 2009 were $1.67 million, a 47-percent improvement over fiscal 2008 sales. Year-to-date sales were $595,102, a better than 33-percent jump over the same period during the previous year.

Protein bars and energy bars accounted for 39 percent of the agency's cumulative sales in the health food, diet bar, and sports nutrition categories in the last 12 months, Berry said.

Protein bars and energy bars, such as this assortment at the NB San Diego, Calif., Commissary, accounted for 39 percent of DeCA's cumulative sales in the health food, diet bar, and sports nutrition categories in the last 12 months.

The sixth annual E and C News Big Game Display Contest, inspired by the NFL's Super Bowl XLIV, recognized merchandising creativity in commissaries and exchanges. Spanning display periods in January and early February 2010, the spiff contest was open to all military supplier/broker sales force display builders and managers showcasing in-store NFL championship game-themed merchandising displays.

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