Commissary imporovements make shopping easier

By Bonnie HeaterSeptember 18, 2009

Commissary Improvements
Michael Patrick, a vendor with Military Produce Group, points out the new "Big Top of Healthy Snacks" display now being offered in the produce section of the Fort Gordon Commissary. 'We are trying to get children away from high fat snacks by offering... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

Fort Gordon's commissary has been undergoing renovations since August 2008. The project was projected to be finished August 2009, but delays and unforeseen problems have pushed that date back.

Recently the commissary was closed Aug. 29 through Sept. 1 to allow new shelving to be installed. Items were pulled from the shelves and temporarily stored in shopping carts. Cashiers and commissary staff worked around the clock restocking the new shelves as product vendors placed new pricing labels in front of their products on the shelves in time to re- open Sept. 2 for the Labor Day holiday.

One of the customers to notice the new shelving was Misty Simons, the wife of Sgt. Chad Simons, who is assigned to Company B, 63rd Signal Battalion. "The shelves are different," said Simons. "They look nicer." Her friend, Rachelle Hubble, the wife of Spc. David Hubble, who is also assigned to Company B, 63rd Signal Battalion, was shopping with Simons at the Fort Gordon Commissary Sept. 2.

Hubble noticed the aisles were wider. "There's been a lot of a change made to the commissary this past year," said Hubble. "The lines are shorter now with the addition of express and self checkouts. What I'm looking forward to is the installation of the new flooring."

The aisles are now about eight feet wide, according to John Siddell, the Fort Gordon Commissary director. "This change will allow more room for carts and wheelchairs to move throughout the store."

Another change that's been recently made can be found in the soft drink section of the store. According to Chuck Woody, a key account manager for Coke-Cola Company, the Fort Gordon Commissary is the first store in the country to have an entire beverage section [filled with Coke products] with gravity fed shelves. "As a customer grabs a bottle of Coke another bottle will automatically slide down in its place," said Woody. "There's no more reaching way in the back of a shelf for the only available bottle of soda.

"This is a pilot program in which we are testing how long the rollers will last on the new shelving," continued Woody. "They are guaranteed for five years. We also installed a clear plexi-guard in front of the shelves to help better display advertising and prices."

Another change which was made in the commissary can be found in the produce section. There's a section especially for kids. It's labeled "Big Top of Healthy Snacks." Packaged single serving of healthy vegetables and fruits are now available for lunches and snacks for everyone, but especially for kids. "We are trying to get children away from high fat snacks," said Michael Patrick, of Military Produce Group.

Selection of products to offer customers and their placement on shelves throughout the store is actually now a science. DeCA uses plan-o-grams to help vendors place their merchandise and food items in the commissary, according to Siddell. "Chuck Prutch, now a vendor with the Kraft Company, helped formulate the computerized program in the mid 1990s when he worked for DeCA," said Siddell.

"We bench mark what products we offer our customers by what Walmart, Costco, Publix, Kroger and Safeway sell in their stores in this region," said Prutch.

This method helps us provide merchandise and food items our customers really want to buy and use, said Siddell. "In the future we plan to use electronic pricing in our store."