DeCA photograph
Nellis Commissary,

Halloween playhouse 2015: The not-so-scary haunted house in the Nellis Air Force Base Commissary, Nev., is large enough for children to walk through. The store finished in second place for DeCA’s Best Superstore.

The Defense Commissary Agency recently announced the winners for the best Defense Commissary 2016 competition, and the commissary at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., took second place in Director’s Award for Best Superstore category.

“It’s an honor to be the second best commissary in the continental United States,” said Rick Means, store director at Nellis. “My goal, however, is to be the best commissary in the United States.

“In 1995, when I was on active duty and working as the grocery manager at Hill AFB, Utah, we won the best CONUS commissary competition,” Means said. “Now, as a civil service employee, I always strive to be the number one commissary.

“This is a step in the right direction,” he said. “It is my goal next year for Nellis to be number one.”

The overall winners are: Naval Station Rota, Spain; Anchorage Area, Alaska; Minot Air Force Base, N.D.; Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, Calif., and Kelley Barracks, Germany.

“Congratulations to all the winners,” said acting DeCA Director and CEO Michael Dowling. “They serve to remind all of us in DeCA that it’s not only our goal, but our privilege to provide a premiere commissary benefit to our patrons around the world, and excellence is attainable through our passion and teamwork.”

The awardees and runners-up by category are:
• Director’s Award for the Best Superstore
▷ First Place: Anchorage Area, Alaska
▷ Second Place: Nellis Air Force Base, Nev.
• Bill Nichols Award for the Best Large Commissary in the United States
▷ First Place: Minot Air Force Base, N.D.
▷ Second Place: West Point, N.Y.
• Richard M. Paget Award for the Best Small Commissary in the United States
▷ First Place: Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, Calif.
▷ Second Place: Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas
• Dan Daniel Award for the Best Large Commissary Overseas
▷ First Place: Naval Station Rota, Spain
▷ Second Place: Naval Fleet Activities Yokosuka, Japan
• L. Mendel Rivers Award for the Best Small Commissary Overseas
▷ First Place: Kelley Barracks, U.S. Army Garrison Stuttgart, Germany
▷ Second Place: U.S. Army Garrison Baumholder, Germany

Each of the stores selected surpassed the criteria set forth by DeCA for customer service, accountability, safety, operations and sales.

The awards are named in honor of American statesmen who championed quality-of-life issues for the military community.