Defense Commissary Agency

Corporate Communications

1300 E Avenue, Fort Lee, VA 23801-1800

Tel:  (804) 734-8000, Ext. 8-6105  DSN: 687-8000, Ext. 8-6105 

FAX: (804) 734-8248  DSN: 687-8248

www.commissaries.com

Release Number:        96-20                                                                                                                        

Date:                              December 7, 2020

Media Contact:           Kevin L. Robinson, public affairs specialist

Tel.:                               (804) 734-8000, Ext. 4-8773

E-mail:                         kevin.robinson@deca.mil

Commissaries continue delivering benefit while prioritizing safety of customers, employees

during COVID-19 pandemic

By Kevin L. Robinson,

DeCA public affairs specialist

Note: To read this release online, go to the DeCA website.

FORT LEE, Va. – Amid the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, the Defense Commissary Agency is reassuring its customers and employees that their health and welfare is the commissaries’ top priority.

“We exist to enrich our customers’ quality of life by providing significant savings on their groceries, and they can rest assured that we will do so safely and efficiently,” said William F. Moore, DeCA director.

“As we deliver the commissary benefit, the safety of our valued customers and dedicated employees remains our No. 1 priority especially during this unprecedented time,” he added. “We continue to follow strict DOD health protection in our stores, specifically regarding sanitary measures, face coverings and social distancing.”

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, DeCA has implemented the following measures to help mitigate the spread of the virus in commissaries:

• Commissaries conduct daily health screenings of anyone who works in commissaries – including employees, baggers and affiliated contractors – before they start their shifts

• Anyone (including customers) entering a store must wear a face covering
• Stores have clear plastic sneeze shields in all regular checkout lanes
• Commissary personnel wipe down checkout areas, product display cases, restrooms and shopping carts with disinfectant, and practice routine hand washing and other basic sanitation measures
• Touchless credit card processing eliminates the need for the customer to sign
• Customers scan their own ID cards so cashiers can provide them touchless transactions
• Reusable bag usage has been banned
• DeCA canceled special events such as the spring sidewalk sales, in-store product demonstrations (including DeCA’s free coffee program), group tours, vendor-sponsored events and other events to discourage group gatherings
• Commissaries are working with installation leadership and public health personnel to implement risk reduction practices specific to that base.

From a product availability standpoint, DeCA continues to work with its industry suppliers to increase deliveries to commissaries where the need is greatest – especially overseas – to ensure product availability, particularly on items that are in high demand like liquid sanitizer, disinfectant wipes and toilet paper.

Store directors have the flexibility to determine item limitations based on supplier availability and customer demand. These actions help stores control stock outs and panic buying, Moore said.

“At this time, when the industry-wide grocery logistics system is being stressed, we want our customers to know we are aggressively partnering with the supplier community to fix any shortages and ensure our military patrons have shelves full of what they need over the holidays,” he said. “There is no need for panic buying. If they happen to see empty shelves in the store, we ask them to please be patient – the store will be restocked often the very next day.” 

Customers should continue to refer to DeCA’s Coronavirus page  for updates related to commissaries. For overall updates and guidance regarding this virus, they are encouraged to access the following websites: the federal government’s response to COVID-19 and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Coronavirus site.

-DeCA-

NEWS RELEASE

Defense Commissary Agency

Corporate Communications

1300 E Avenue, Fort Lee, VA 23801-1800

Tel:  (804) 734-8000, Ext. 8-6105  DSN: 687-8000, Ext. 8-6105 

FAX: (804) 734-8248  DSN: 687-8248

www.commissaries.com

Release Number:        27-20                                                                                                                        

Date:                              March 18, 2020

Media Contact:           Kevin L. Robinson, public affairs specialist

Tel.:                               (804) 734-8000, Ext. 4-8773

E-mail:                         kevin.robinson@deca.mil

Commissaries adjust shopping limits, implement

‘No ID touching,’ begin 100% ID checks

 and prepare for suspension of early bird hours

By Kevin L. Robinson,

DeCA public affairs specialist

Note: Go to the DeCA website to read this online.

FORT LEE, Va. – The Defense Commissary Agency announced several operational policies to help stores better serve customers during the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak.

These policies include the following actions:

• Effective immediately, a 100-percent ID card check at all commissaries, so that only authorized customers – this includes disabled veterans with VHIC cards – will be able to shop. While this policy is in effect visitors will not be allowed to enter the commissary. This is designed help with social distancing and crowd control. Children under 10 with their parents don’t have to have an ID card.
• Effective March 15, to prevent customer-to-customer spread of germs, commissary cashiers no longer handle patron ID cards. Instead, customers will be asked to scan their own ID. Cashiers can use the handheld scanner if available or have the customer scan their own card.
• Effective March 19, all commissaries will suspend early bird shopping to allow more time to clean and restock the store.
• In a move to lessen panic-buying, the agency instructed its store directors worldwide to use their discretion in placing the shopping limits necessary to help maintain stock availability.

Rear Adm. (Ret.) Robert J. Bianchi, DOD special assistant for commissary operations, announced the shopping limits policy March 14 in response to a growing number of customers engaged in unauthorized purchases for the purposes of resale or hoarding.

The shopping directive, effective immediately, gives store directors more authority to quickly tailor shopping limits, as required, to keep more products available for more customers, Bianchi said.

“These decisions should not contravene or override any restrictions or guidance provided by installation commanders,” Bianchi said. “However, in the absence of installation commander direction, our store directors are now authorized to make local decisions as they deem necessary to control stock shortages through instances such as panic buying and unauthorized purchases for resale.”

            From the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, commissaries overseas – starting with stores in Italy, South Korea and Japan – instituted shopping limits on items such as hand sanitizers, disinfectants and toilet paper.

As coronavirus fears ignited a surge of customer activity worldwide, it became necessary for commissary officials to counter panic buying to take care of all customers, Bianchi said.

“Now our store directors have the flexibility to institute shopping limitations if no directives exist,” he said. “They still must inform base leadership when they are implementing these restrictions, but they can use my authority to move forward.”

From a product availability standpoint, commissaries continue to work with their industry suppliers to support the needs of senior leaders on the ground at each location. This support manifests itself through increased deliveries to the commissaries that need it most. For overseas stores this means emergency airlifts of high-demand items to counter delays of shipboard supply containers.

“We know this is a potentially stressful time for all concerned,” Bianchi said. “But together we will meet these challenges and support our service members and their families throughout the duration of this crisis wherever necessary.

 “We always recommend to our customers that they calmly purchase what they need and avoid any panic buying to ensure products are available for others in their communities.”

Preventing virus spread at stores

The “No ID handling” policy is just one of many actions stores are implementing to help prevent COVID-19 exposure, said James “Jay” Hudson, principal deputy director of DeCA’s Store Operations Group.

 “We consider the health and welfare of our customers and our employees our No. 1 concern,” Hudson said. “Our stores are following the highest standards of the Department of Defense’s health protection. This means we’re using disinfectant cleaners to wipe down our checkout areas, restrooms and shopping carts frequently. We’re also ensuring our associates practice routine hand washing and other basic sanitation measures to avoid spreading germs.”

Hudson also said DeCA encourages its employees to closely monitor their health, and asks them to stay home if they, or someone in their household, are sick.

Commissary customers should continue to refer to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Coronavirus site for updates and guidance regarding this virus. Updates related to the commissaries can be found on DeCA’s Coronavirus page.

-DeCA-

     Disabled Veterans and other new Commissary Patrons will have to wait before they will will have access to all the features on the MyCommissary portal. This does not affect their access to shop at the Commissary. “After the Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA) deploys changes to the MyCommissary portal, our new customers will be able to register their Rewards Card to access Digital coupons and use CLICK2GO at participating stores,” said Kevin L. Robinson, Public Affairs Specialist, DeCA.

      These features allow Commissary patrons to register a commissary rewards card and upload discounts and deals that are only available to authorized shoppers. The CLICK2GO program is currently being tested and will allow commissary patrons to order groceries online and then be conveniently delivered to their car. This feature will provide a convenience especially for the disabled patrons.

     The influx of 4.1 million new users necessitated changes to the MyCommissary portal. “Work to update the MyCommissary portal could not begin until completion of the new authorized user validation tables, which took longer than expected as the volume of data shared between the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Defense Manpower Data Center was massive. The tables are now complete and DeCA is making needed system changes to interface with the new validation tables and must test that the validation process works and is seamless to our customers. DeCA’s system changes are expected to be completed by late February or early March,” said Robinson.

     “We ask our new customer groups to be patient as we update the portal user authentication function. The Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA) estimates the access will be available by late February or early March. Customers will be able to tell when the new functionality is available because DeCA will remove the access caveats for the new patron group from the website. We will also formally announce when access to MyCommissary is possible. To be clear, this does not affect our new customers’ in-store shopping access or access to many other areas of commissaries.com,” he added.    

     According to Robinson, newly eligible veterans and caregivers currently have access to many other areas of commissaries.com to include:
•       The Savings Center, which includes our basic sales flyer, information on current sales promotions, the Your Everyday Savings (YES!) program, our private label program also known as Commissary Brands and links to coupons.
•       Healthy Living, which includes DeCA’s Nutrition Guide Program, dietitian-approved recipes, healthy living resources and Thinking Outside the Box recipes that offer quick, healthy and economical solutions for busy consumers.
•       Commissary Gift Cards, available in denominations of $25 or $50.
•       Information on scheduled sidewalk sales, Healthy Lifestyle Festival events and Guard/Reserve on-site sales.
•       Food safety and food recall information.

     DeCA will make an announcement when all the features of the MyCommissary portal are available to new patrons. Check back often for commissary news and updates.

Marguerite Cleveland is a freelance writer who specializes in human interest and travel stories. She is a military brat, a veteran and now a military spouse.  Her military experience is vast as the daughter of a Navy man who served as an enlisted sailor and then Naval Officer. She served as an enlisted soldier in the reserves and on active duty, then as an Army Officer. She currently serves as a military spouse. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and two sons. Visit her website www.PeggyWhereShouldIGo.com