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DeCA Europe Deputy Director Cheryl Conner and then-Store Director Jimmie Holzhauser of USAG Grafenwoehr, Germany, proudly hold the Dan Daniel trophy for the Best Large Commissary Overseas that the Grafenwoehr store won during the 2010 American Logistics Association (ALA)/Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA) Worldwide Partnership Summit in Atlanta.

Through versatile advance planning and by seeking opportunity in adversity, the Army & Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) is finding ways to turn current economic challenges to its patrons' longer-term benefit when it comes to building new stores and renovating old ones.

A bevy of award winners were announced during the 2010 American Logistics Association (ALA)/Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA) Worldwide Partnership Summit held here. The winners of the annual Best Commissary competition received their accolades during the June 8 Awards Dinner.

BEST COMMISSARY AWARDS

DeCA's Best Commissary awards recognize overall excellence in commissary operations and service. Winning stores are objectively evaluated in four areas: accountability, unit cost, commissary customer service survey and sales. The awards are named in honor of government officials who protected the commissary benefit and championed quality-of-life issues for the military and their families.

Celebrating DeCA West as the winner of the COMMEX Best Region Compliance Award were (left to right) Senior Enlisted Advisor Command Sgt. Maj. Victor M. Garcia, USA; DeCA; DeCA Chief Operating Officer (COO) and now Acting Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Thomas Milks; COMMEX Vice President Gary Duell; DeCA West Director Keith Hagenbuch; and then-DeCA Director and CEO Philip Sakowitz.

The Defense Commissary Agency's (DeCA) Best Merchandising Awards are presented annually to those commissaries identified as building the best displays. These awards were presented during the 2010 American Logistics Association (ALA)/Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA) Worldwide Partnership Summit held here.

According to the agency, in order for the stores to stand out from the rest, they must also excel in adhering to the Sales Directorate's (SD) promotional program packages, exhibit creativity and enthusiasm in merchandising commissary products, and encourage the participation of regional and local companies in promotional programs.

 

AAFES Beverage, Alcohol and Tobacco Divisional Merchandise Manager Bridget MacFawn outlines key 2010 strategies to main store managers and general managers during their MSM/GM Conference held in Dallas, Texas, this past March.

Cumulative soft drink and beer sales in Army & Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) stores continue to sparkle even in a down economy.

Bridget MacFawn, divisional merchandise manager (DMM) in the exchange service's Sales Directorate (SD), reported that both soft drinks and beer remain strong store areas, with soft drinks continuing to be a steady sales producer and beer sales improving through the first quarter of fiscal 2010.

MacFawn and her beverage team — including buyers Vicki Venables (non-alcoholic beverages), Mark Martin (spirits), and Kye Corn and Raymond Banaban (senior buyer, and buyer for beer and wine, respectively) — reported that cumulative sales of beer and non-alcoholic beverages were $494 million in fiscal 2009, a 2.1-percent increase from the previous year.

Non-alcoholic beverage sales improved during fiscal 2009, with the $275 million that these items — including soda — registered up 7.8-percent over fiscal 2008.

However, beer sales dropped during the fiscal year. MacFawn reported that fiscal 2009 sales were $219 million, which was down $10 million, or 4.4 percent. Year-to-date sales, however, of both non-alcoholic beverage sales and beer sales are doing well. MacFawn said through March, activity in the non-alcoholic beverage category is up 2 percent over the same period during the prior year and beer sales are up 1.6 percent.

 

In late February, Rogers E. Campbell was named the director of the Defense Commissary Agency's (DeCA) Eastern Region.

Campbell has seen many changes in the commissary system since his time on active duty in the 1970s, and is enthused about DeCA's present and future.

In this exclusive interview with E and C News, the former Army officer and past vice president (VP) and chief marketing officer (CMO) of Overseas Military Sales Corp. (OMSC), offers insights into how his experiences in the fields of brand management, customer marketing and service, and the consumer packaged goods marketplace should benefit him and the agency as he steps into this pivotal East Region leadership role.

Campbell also takes stock of his responsibilities and objectives, and reveals his initial priorities for DeCA East as he takes the baton from his predecessor region leaders.

E and C News: As a former Army captain, did you and your family shop in military resale stores during your time in the service? Do you have any memorable shopping experiences that you and/or your family had while shopping in commissaries?

Rogers E. Campbell: Yes, as a former Army officer, I shopped the commissary. Granted, most of the time as a single soldier, I lived in the Bachelor Officer Quarters, which had limited facilities for food preparation and storage. However, even as a young lieutenant, I recognized the value and benefit of shopping in the commissary. On the one occasion when I did live off base, I shopped in the Fort Hood, Texas, commissary regularly.

My most distinct memory of commissary shopping is of stocking up on cans of Dinty Moore beef stew and Vienna sausages prior to extended field training exercises. I disliked the old Army C rations and, unlike the infantry, being a tanker allowed me to carry to the field a few of life’s little luxuries and comforts.

In August 2009, Michael J. “Mike” Dowling returned to the Defense Commissary Agency's (DeCA) European Region as its director after serving as the agency's acting chief operating officer (COO) (see E and C News 9/2009), his second such tour of duty with the agency.

As the U.S. military footprint continues to shift with transformation and force repositioning, Dowling leads a region that is likewise changing to meet the region's evolving needs.

In this exclusive interview with E and C News, Dowling talks about those challenges and opportunities, and how his region is ready for the task at hand.

E and C News: You have returned to DeCA Europe after a tour at headquarters as acting chief operating officer. What changes do you see in the region since you left a few years ago, and how are your new personnel settling in?

Michael Dowling: The deli/bakeries have made significant progress. I was fortunate when I was DeCA East director to have had the opportunity to work with Northeast Military Sales, Military Deli & Bakery Services, and Favata Bakeries, which operated many outstanding deli/bakery operations in our stores. They offered wide selections of products while striving to provide outstanding customer service.

I think we understand the customer service side of the business, but we need to continue to work on product mix. While we don't have the same business model in Europe, there have been significant strides in this area, but there's still work to be done.

When I departed DeCA Europe in 2007, we had just finished the transfer of the subsistence contracting activity from Defense Supply Center Philadelphia (DSCP) Europe to ourselves. Upon returning, I have seen the progress that has been made in this area and the possibilities for the future.

We continue to reduce our footprint as the services continue to realign their force structure. In Germany, our stores in Darmstadt, Hanau, Dexheim, Wuerzburg and Idar Oberstein have closed since I left to be DeCA East director in 2007.

Our new operations director, Mike Yaksich, and our new chief of logistics, Victor Claar, arrived in April and have “hit the ground running.” Ernestina Vasquez joined us from Bitburg AB, Germany, to lead our store operations team and immediately hit the road overseeing inventories and providing store assistance. Barbara Sannino at Zone 31 and Monique Mings at Zone 32 have assumed their zone manager posts and seem to have settled in nicely.

A large number of Direct Store Delivery (DSD) items have recently been added into the Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA) category assortment to address patron wish lists. While sales had declined slightly, patrons now have an even wider array of DSD options to choose from.

A current trend that is impacting DSD assortments is portion control packaging. “We are seeing that portion control is a desire for many of our patrons,” said Michelle Frost, chief, Semi-Perishable Division, “so manufacturers are continuing to offer more of the 100 calorie packs.

“With our sodas, package and size variety does play a huge role in portion control,” Frost continued. “We have 24 packs, 20 packs, and Coke had even tried (unsuccessfully) an 18-pack. Their size variety includes renewal of an 8-oz. retro bottle, 7.5 sleek cans (Tall and Thin), and a 16-oz. PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate) replacing the 20-oz. bottle in some markets.”

“All of these changes are trying to hit certain 'sweet spot' price points or unique packages,” Frost observed, “in an effort to reduce pricing and return to growth.

“With our bulk quantities and multi-packs, Frito-Lay has offered a 50-pack of single-serve assorted chips that has become the number-one selling item in the DeCA club pack program, with sales over $2.7 million,” the division chief said.

“Green/sustainable/biodegradable packaging for DSD is in its infancy and pricing on these items is somewhat higher than the non-biodegradable packaging,” she noted.

“We will continue promoting these items through one-time buys and promotions.”

In DeCA stores, the sales of “Good For You” (GFY) products increased “just over 4 percent in units sold and 2 percent in dollar sales for the latest 52 weeks versus a year ago at the same time, reported Barbara A. Merriweather, chief, DSD, among other responsibilities.

At the same time, she noted, “The continuing sales of snack items that are not reduced in sodium are revealed in the salty snack category, which is now outselling carbonated soft drinks in DeCA.”

The Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA) continues to seek ways to improve its offerings to patrons by regularly reviewing and re-bidding contracts according to performance and parameters.

As of July 2, Resale Produce Support Branch Chief/Contracting Officer Sarah E. Saunders noted that Area 1 was re-awarded on April 1, 2010, under a slightly different configuration than its predecessor. Also, she explained, the solicitation for Area 2 was issued earlier this year, and proposals received in response were under evaluation. Area 2 also included a slightly different configuration of stores and groups than its predecessor. As future solicitations are issued, the area of coverage will be addressed at that time.

Any patron who has visited the Defense Commissary Agency’s (DeCA) Facebook page in 2010 may have noticed a number of fellow patrons voicing an interest in organic and locally grown produce. The agency’s social media initiative has certainly caught the attention of department personnel, suppliers and customers.

DRIVING FACTORS
According to Commissary Management Specialist, Produce, Bridget Bennett, several factors that are currently influencing the “increased consumption of organics” include health and environmental concerns; consumers cooking more at home; growing awareness of organic options; lower prices of organic produce enticing a new customer base who is willing to try organic produce … as the price range narrows; locations where stores have made a consistent effort and remained committed to the category; and suppliers offering weekly promotions on organic produce.

When exercise dynamo and best-selling fitness expert Denise Austin was introduced as a guest speaker, sponsored by Nature Made/Pharmavite, during the American Logistics Association (ALA)/ Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA) Worldwide Partnership Summit, held here in June, she came running out onto the ballroom stage in her typically vivacious style.

Austin is an upbeat person with enough energy to power a metropolis and her enthusiastic spirit lights up a room, with an energy that is contagious. During her lively presentation, she invited several DeCA leaders to join her onstage and help lead attendees in some quick stretches.

E and C News had the opportunity for an exclusive interview with Austin before her speech and found her to be the same type of positive, sincere person behind the scenes as well.

 

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• Sweepstakes Is Music to the Ears of Winners at Country Music Awards
• AAFES's Hall Recognized as Frozen Category Sales Heat Up

These are highlights of the most recent issue of Exchange and Commissary News available online. CLICK HERE  to read the complete issue, or CLICK HERE  to become a regular subscriber.

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