FORT RUCKER, Ala. (June 19, 2105) -- A project nearly two years in the making is coming to fruition as the final touches are added to Fort Rucker's shiniest new benefit -- the new commissary.
The grand opening for the store will be July 15 with a ribbon cutting ceremony at 8:30 a.m. to allow shoppers access to the new, state-of-the-art facility, said Bobby Ward, Fort Rucker Commissary store director.
As workers stocked shelves June 15, Ward provided a tour of the nearly-complete facility to community members and Fort Rucker senior leadership to showcase the new commissary's state-of-the-art features, as well as highlight the increased amount of sales space.
Commissaries are rated in categories from K1 to K5, according to Ward, and much of the new facility's sales floor, including all of the frozen and chilled items and much of the dry goods sections, will be rated as K4.
The commissary will be significantly larger than the current store, with a total of 85,302 square feet. More than half of that -- 47,380 square feet -- is designated for the sales floor, which is more than 18,000 square feet more sales floor space than the current commissary, he said.
The overall size of the commissary is roughly the same dimensions of the old commissary, but the area of the sales floor was able to be increased by shrinking the size of the warehouse, said Ward.
"The warehouse in the old commissary is almost 33,000 square feet of storage space. The one at the new commissary is just over 11,000 square feet, which allows for almost double the sales floor space in the front of the store," said the store director. "We're able to do that by having items delivered six days a week to the new store as opposed to two days a week in the old store."
Since the warehouse is smaller, it won't be available for use as a storage facility, but rather a drop off point when goods are delivered to restock the store on a more frequent, as-needed basis, Ward said.
That larger sales floor will feature extensive produce, meat, frozen, chilled and grocery departments, as well as an international delicatessen and bakery with a sandwich bar, a sushi-to-go area and rotisserie chicken. The deli is now currently reopened in the current commissary, and the sushi-to-go area will reopen in the current commissary June 22, he added.
The new facility will feature a stock assortment of 18,000 items. There will be 13 regular checkouts and four self-checkout stations to handle the more than 45,000 customer transactions, and serve the 30,000-plus authorized shoppers that visit the commissary every month, according to Ward.
With the layout of the new store and the installation of dozens of skylights, he said there is room for substantial savings in electrical cost, as well as many other sustainable and energy-saving design features that were incorporated into the new building.
Some of those features include low-maintenance, polished concrete flooring; high-efficiency heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems; enhanced freezer and cooler insulation; non-ozone-depleting refrigerants; water-saving plumbing fixtures; automatic exterior lighting controls; energy-efficient interior lighting fixtures; Energy Star-rated equipment; energy-conserving night curtains on open display cases; refrigeration monitoring and control system; and adhesives, sealants, paints and coatings made with compliant, low-volatile organic compounds.
With all of these improvements, Ward said shoppers are in for a treat when the doors to the new facility open.
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