Fall savings highlight commissaries’ return to regular hours

Published Aug. 29, 2013
By Sallie Cauthers
DeCA marketing and mass marketing specialist

FORT LEE, Va. -- As commissaries resume pre-furlough operations, patrons will see plenty of savings with sales events throughout the store promoting Labor Day promotions, half-off sales, recipe contests, Oktoberfest celebrations and high-value coupons.
"We want our patrons to know all our stores are back to their normal hours," said Tracie Russ, the Defense Commissary Agency's deputy director of sales. "As we head toward the cooler days of autumn, we're offering plenty of events to help our customers save money and maximize their benefit. One event in particular is a series of scan-down days in September offering 50 percent off certain items in our stateside commissaries."
Throughout September, DeCA's industry partners - vendors, suppliers and brokers - are collaborating with commissaries to offer discounts beyond everyday savings. Overseas stores may have substitute events for certain promotional programs.
Customers should check with their local store manager to verify when they will be offering the following sales events:
· Scan-down days. On Sept. 12, commissaries in the continental United States will offer manager's specials at 50 percent off on Bartlett pears, Kraft mayonnaise (regular and light), Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice, Kellogg's Fruit Loops Cereal and Healthy Choice Chicken Margherita Café Steamers. Look for future 50 percent off scan-down days on Sept. 18 and 25. This event is not available for commissaries in Alaska, Hawaii, Europe and the Far East.
· Soup season begins. September is the start of the soup season. Look for commissary displays promoting special savings on Progresso soups.
· Oceans Spray's Labor Day Sale. Through Sept. 15, stateside commissaries will display Ocean Spray products from cranberry, grapefruit, diet and light cranberry, sparkling multipacks and the new cranberry lemonade. Look for product demonstrations.
· "The Great Eggo Waffle Off Contest." Throughout September, Eggo waffles and Breyers ice cream brands are sponsoring a recipe contest. To enter, find details on packages of six-, eight-, 10-count Eggo waffle containers that say, "The Great Eggo Waffle Off Contest." Shoppers can also find contest information on Eggo and Breyers Facebook sites. Look for the Eggo and Breyers display in your commissary along with store coupons for both brands and product demonstrations.
· The Oktoberfest in Munich runs from late September until early October, and commissary shoppers are encouraged to have their own celebrations if they can't make it to Deutschland. Commissaries have a full line of discounted German products available from chocolates, cookies, sauerkraut, mustard and red cabbage to rich German coffee and more.
· "We Are Family." Quaker and Tropicana present a family-focused promotion exclusively to military commissaries worldwide. Look for large displays to include banners, posters, entry forms and high-value coupons that will cross promote with the commissaries' produce, offering $3 off fresh fruit. Twenty-five commissary shoppers will be chosen as a "free breakfast" winner to receive more than 10 products from Quaker and Tropicana brands.
· Unilever is offering its 17th Annual "Italian & American Festival of Savings" through Sept. 25. This year's promotion will again feature Unilever brands such as Ragu, Hellman's, Lipton, Wishbone, Bertolli, Slimfast, Skippy and more. More than 125,000 high-value in-store coupon flyers will be distributed worldwide.
· Gatorade will offer the "Salute to Service" promotion exclusively to military commissaries. This unique continental-U.S.-only event will award commissary shoppers NFL tickets plus a VIP experience. Thirty-two winners (one winner and one guest per team) will be chosen. Look for the in-store display representing the NFL team of choice along with an entry box and entry forms. These displays are located at the 32 commissaries in close proximity to an NFL team. Other CONUS commissaries will be provided football and Gatorade prizes for giveaways.
Russ reminded commissary customers they can quickly locate their commissary and participate in the savings they've earned by going to www.commissaries.com, clicking on the "Locations" tab, then "Alphabetical Listing" to locate their store and clicking on "Local Store Information."
"Whenever you consistently use your commissary benefit you're saving more than 30 percent compared to buying groceries in commercial stores," Russ said. "We hope this month's promotions will help keep even more money in your pocket."
-DeCA-