FORT IRWIN, Calif. — Visitors to the Fort Irwin Commissary are now being welcomed into a store with a whole, new look and feel, with the intent on making the commissary shopping experience faster and easier.
The only grocery store at the National Training Center closed for two, full days in August to complete a full store reset. Fortunately the store closure was during the summer opportunity/block leave, where a large portion of residents and Soldiers are not on post.
The store renovation gave employees time to tear down shelving, build new shelving, and restock.
“Given that much of the product at Fort Irwin Commissary did a full 180 flip in location, our full store reset went very smoothly,” Ordering Officer, Michelle Chatman said. “This outcome was largely due to the hard work and preparation of the Fort Irwin Commissary staff and support services that came together through a unified effort, delivering upon the DeCA (The Defense Commissary Agency) vision of bringing increased efficiency and a better shopping experience to our amazing patrons.”
Many in the community seem to be pleased with the new look.
“I like the new layout,” Grace Christian said and “I like it so far,” January Always commented on the Fort Irwin Connection Facebook page.
“We have heard lots of wonderful feedback from the community, particularly, how customers love the new layout, with food aisles prominently displayed in the middle of our store, and our expanded selections of top selling products, with many fun new items throughout,” said Commissary Officer Peter Sloan. “Patrons have expressed that the product flow is more intuitive, and that they are very pleased with the new sections, including housewares, organic health and beauty, travel size, and year-round sun care, to name a few.”
Sloan said they still understand that they have to cross their T’s and dot their I’s, as their staff continues restoring stock levels, ensure on-time replenishment cycles.
DeCA’s top priority is to help busy, active-duty shoppers, retirees and family members make a quick run through the commissary, getting home, or back to duty assignments more quickly and efficiently.
Commissary officers thanked the community for being patient and positive and asked everyone to continue to provide feedback.
“The Commissary staff were on point with this re-arrangement,” Traci Bazzell said. “So much easier to maneuver and git’er done!”