In a never-ending drive by the government to cut the military budget, the Pentagon has proposed to cut the commissary budget for 2017 by $221 million. How would this budget reduction impact the every day consumer?
Commissaries will be closing. Not all commissaries; no need to panic. Stateside commissaries are safe for now. Those in Europe, on the other hand, are on the chopping block.
The first 2 commissaries slated to close are in Germany; they are the commissaries at Sembach and Illesheim.
In 2015, Sembach sales were $3.8 million and Illesheim was only a mere $2.5 million. Both of these commissaries have been in operation since the 1960s. They are small stores, with only 4 checkout lanes each. This puts them at the bottom third of commissary sales. There are 240 commissaries and these two just aren’t holding up to standards others are setting.
Officials are quick to say that closing these 2 commissaries isn’t a big deal for customers since they are within a 30-minute drive of 2 larger commissaries from Sembach and a 35-minute drive to the next commissary from Illesheim. Shoppers from Sembach could make that commute if they wanted to shop at Vogelweh or Ramstein Air Base. Those at Illesheim would have to drive to Ansbach for their next closest commissary.
A 30- or 35-minute commute might not sound like much to government officials in Washington, D.C., but it can be significant for families living abroad.
The commissary’s slogan, “it’s worth the drive,” might just take on a whole new meaning. This holds especially true for single service members who are use to just popping into their local commissary often.
If you are using either of these 2 commissaries as your main source for purchasing groceries, note that Sembach closes April 29. Illesheim’s commissary will close on March 31.
One good thing at least, there are sure to be great sales as they try to move inventory off the shelves.
Don’t make a sigh of relief yet if you’re stationed in Germany, but not near these 2 commissaries. There are more commissaries slated to close. The Defense Commissary Agency plans to meet budget cuts by consolidating down to one commissary per military community. Grafenwoehr and Kaiserslautern will be the only exceptions to this.
That means commissaries in Stuttgart will be part of the plan to close stores in Europe in 2016. Those at Patch, Kelley Barracks, Robinson Barracks and Panzer Kaserne will all see their final days this year.
A new commissary on Panzer is being built to compensate for this. Construction hasn’t begun yet and these commissaries will remain open until the new one is ready so you still have time to shop at your favorite commissary before the doors close for good.
The saying “you can never go back” keeps playing in my mind as I write this. I lived in Germany for 5 years. I truly will never be able to go back to Robinson Barracks where my family shopped regularly when we were stationed in Stuttgart. It’s a 20- to 30-minute drive from Robinson Barracks to Panzer for those that live in the area.
There is always a constant worry about losing military benefits and talk of commissary closures are a norm. This is one instance that rumors are true.
Hopefully families and service members that shop regularly at these commissaries will be able to adjust their routine grocery shopping trip accordingly knowing ahead of time that their stores are closing.
A very good idea that the govt. can do would be to establish mobile Commissaries that can every couple of weeks travel from small housing area to small housing area around Europe and sell US brands to the different residents to whom a long trip to the big central Commissaries would be a hardship. By doing this the govt. would save money on renting out the smaller, older and dingy shops that serve as the Commissary. The mobile Commissary can be like large mobile homes in size complete with a mini supermarket inside that will include refrigeration and freezers. By doing this they can have service members order certain food items that cannot be purchased outside on the European economy and have it ready and bagged for them when they come to claim it. I saw somehing similar at Fort Drum being used by the military exchange. It was being used by the troops to get snack foods and other necessary items during field training. It is do-able and can completely solve this issue.
How awful!
I feel badly for those who have small children and will need to drive either to Ramstein or K-town for little things like diapers and such. Best bet is to stock up now on those things before the closing.
We, who are stateside are not necessarily safe as far as com-store closings go….many of us could be on the chopping block next.
If the Commissary is smart maybe they will develop a PeaPod sort of service with an app or computer website that service members can use to order groceries from the Commissary. Overseas service members with small children can then not have to drive any distance for heir foods and other goods. A job will be created for a driver who can deliver the food to distant housing areas. Possibly, if that service works well overseas it can be used to deliver food to stateside retirees who have Commissary priveleges.
I’m retired and I live 320 mile round trip from a large commissary at Wright-Patterson AFB, OH. There is a commissary at Battle Creek ANG Base, MI; a 200 mile trip. It is just not feasible for me to use the commissaries unless I’m already going to a town/base with one available. Our 180th ANG Base at Toledo Express Airport has just a small convenience store.
It’s a benefit that’s not really a benefit for me.
Unfortunately, the door is open!
The ones that need to stay open are the stores over seas! Stateside we have a ton of options and most are really close by. Leave it to the government to be bass ackward!
The Army closed the commissary at Fort Gillem and Fort McPherson a couple of years ago. A new site has been selected at Dobbins, AFB but they claim there isn’t any money for a building. The sign on the Fort McPherson commissary claimed that the surcharge paid for new commissaries. My question is: “What happened to the money?” I drive over a hundred miles to go to the commissary at Fort Benning.
The problem with closing the Sembach commissary is that the people who live there are single soldiers who work shift and live in the barracks. There is no where else for them to have food outside of the dfac and the occasional mobile food truck. Many of those guys don’t have cars and can’t just run to Ramstein for groceries. And even if they could, their shift work + pt makes it very difficult for them to drive the 40 min to an hour round trip within the commissary’s open hours. Heaven help them if there is a stau on the autobahn.
Really, they should not have moved the jail from and closed Mannheim, if they can’t or won’t give proper support to the soldiers who man it.
This is really going to be a sad event! My family lived in the Storck Barracks @Illesheim < Germany for about 4 years and really loved the simplicity of the community. The installation at the time appeared to be thriving and the commissary was a bonus. It didn't have many of the things carried in the states but, no matter….we all loved it. I feel that the government should come up with a solution to accommodate the military community/members still there. There could possibly be a mini-mart with non-perishable items only, not carried by the PX/BX. I hope that progress will be made for those remaining in the impacted areas overseas.
These are the very types of installations that need access to commissaries more than any others. The populations are isolated and the European economy is much more costly than US service families can afford. Shame on DOD. Shame on our civilianized mindset. These people are sacrificing just by being stationed in these outposts. .
The real issues with closing Illesheim is the fallacy that it is a 35 min drive to Ansbach any given time of day, the fact that their permanent clientele were moved out of the area in 2015, contributing to the lower sales, and there are transitional forces with out cars stationed out there with very few options, and their numbers are supposed to increase in near future. And that isn’t even taking into account the reduced hours, so you may have to take time out of your work day to get there in time to shop. Sad that our government officials take care of themselves, but leave our soldiers away from home with extra hardships for their basic needs. Isn’t that what commissaries were originally built for?
The Sembach commissary is scheduled to close April 29, 2016, as part of the ongoing consolidation of U.S. forces in Europe.
They could expand the items sold in the bases Shopette. A 30 min. Drive during a German winter easily becomes twice that length of time.
It doesn’t make sense that I have to drive over one hundred miles to shop at Fort Benning Commissary, and half the time, they are out of stock, why can’t they make sure that the shelves are fully stocked at all times?