Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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10 UCW OCTOBER 9-15, 2019 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Military commissary officials have stepped up their efforts to beef up savings, convenience and overall shopping experi- ences for customers. When are beer and wine coming to your commissary? No an- swer yet, according to DoD officials. Right now there is a limited test selling beer and wine in 12 military commissaries. Fort Bragg is not one of them. Commissary and exchange officials are "gathering and analyzing all factors related to beer and wine sales," said DoD spokeswoman Jes- sica Maxwell. The 12 test stores have limited selec- tions and restricted floor space for beer and wine, typically a four-foot shelf space each for beer and for wine. The selections have been purposely kept small at the 12 stores, and are being culled and changed, said one industry source. Beer and wine sales are expected to be rolled out slowly to other stores, he said, as officials evalu- ate the initial sales and remain sensitive to the needs of customers and the military services' desires to deglamorize alcohol. One industry source said the Fort Myer, Virginia, commissary — the store closest to the Pentagon — has the best sales of all 12 stores. Although its selection is the smallest, its place- ment near the meat section is key, a local official said. "It's all about where you put it, and how you stage it." Even with just four-feet of shelf space devoted to each of their beer and wine offerings, that store sold $165,596 worth of libations. Its wine sales brought it over the top: 66% of the sales were wine, which far surpassed the other 11 stores. Following a 90-day pilot program in the last half of 2018, DoD decided to continue sales of beer and wine at the 12 test stores while it evaluated whether to expand sales to the rest of the system's 226 commissar- ies in the U.S. and abroad. As of December 8, 2018, some $394,315 worth of beer and wine were sold in the 12 commissaries — $190,574 in beer, and $203,741 in wine, according to Lt. Col. Carla Gleason, a Pen- tagon spokeswoman. e spirits industry had been hoping that a test of spirits sales at the commissaries might follow. But the DoD decided it will not move ahead with a pilot test for spirits. "e department has evaluated the sale of alcoholic beverages in commissaries," Glea- son said, "and stands by its original decision to limit sales to a small selection of beers and wines." "Spirits, wine and beer all compete for the same drinking occasions," said David Ozgo, senior vice president for economic and strategic analysis for the Distilled Spirits Council. "By discriminating against spirits, the DoD is picking marketplace winners and losers and try- ing to dictate consumer preferences … excluding spirits puts us at a competitive disadvantage." Commissaries to sell beer and wine? by JEFF THOMPSON NEWS Following a 90-day pilot program in the last half of 2018, DoD decided to con- tinue sales of beer and wine at the 12 test stores while it evaluated whether to expand sales to the rest of the system's 226 commissaries in the U.S. and abroad. November 2 nd 2019 , $20 per person • Advance Tickets Only 1p.m.-4p.m. Music & 50/50 Raffle Winner announced Missing Man Table in honor of Veterans' Day Checkout EVENTBRITE/Fayetteville/Red-white-blue Don't forget to vote in the Municipal Election on November 5th. For additional information and tickets, please contact the events chairman: Mikele at (910) 489-2055 or email Linda at frwc2013@gmail.com. EMCEE: Jim Cooke Come meet your fellow Republicans and the 2020 Republican Candidates! (Advance Ticket Sales)