DeCA Vision Spring 2008 Vol. 17, No. 3 - Commissaries.com

Dr. Pete Skirbunt
DeCA historian
Fort Belvoir is located in northern Virginia,
about 12 miles south of Washington, D.C., not
far from Mount Vernon, the picturesque home
of George Washington. Many years ago it was
a quiet, almost rural location. Today, it is close to
Interstate 95 and is bisected by U.S. Route 1, the
main north-south routes along the Eastern Seaboard,
beset by the infamous daily traffic snarls of the
Washington area.
The local population has always included a
large number of military personnel – active-duty,
reservists, and retirees – and the post’s location has
enabled it to draw many of them to its military retail
outlets. Because the population around the nation’s
capital has steadily risen for the last 60 years, Fort
Belvoir Commissary has consistently been one
of the busiest in the world. In fact, it has been No. 1
in annual sales every year since DeCA’s inception in
October 1991.
Of course, sales figures alone never tell the whole
story. Get enough people inside any store and sales
!
makinghistory
Fort Belvoir
Commissary,
Va., 1982.
DeCA
historical fi le
photo
Fort Belvoir Commissary, Va.
With more than 70 years of
service, busy commissary
remains agency flagship
totals will increase, especially in times of inflation.
Belvoir Commissary’s real success story is its long
history of being able to handle an increasingly
large customer base while maintaining a level of
enthusiasm and customer service available at many
smaller stores. That ability keeps old customers
coming back, and attracts new ones.
The Belvoir store is able to do these things
because it is always expanding and modernizing. It
has plenty of room to reduce overcrowding and stock
plenty of products, old favorites and new market
entries alike. It also has sufficient checkouts to keep
long lines to a minimum and quickly move a large
number of customers out of the store. But no matter
how big and modern a store may be, it is only as
good as its staff, and the team at the Belvoir store has
traditionally been of high quality.
Increasing commissary sales is an indication they
are maximizing customer savings. Since commissary
shoppers save 30 percent or more over private-sector
supermarkets, they save a significant amount of
money – about $3,000 annually for a family of four.
Maximizing customer sales at all commissaries – but �
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