commissaires do not offer "hefty" savings, not when you consider the 5% and the tipping...not when you take into account that people off base have to travel some good distances to get there...
but they do offer good savings is you're careful....
back when hubby was "in" the area had coupon wars with two different chains offering double and triple coupon savings....it beat the commissary in a heartbeat....
I hear you...
Many people, including service personnel and retirees don’t realize there’s a “service charge” they pay to use the commissary...it’s right on the receipt.
For the military, the old adage “if they give it to you, they can take it away” is really ominous....
And why do you suppose those chains had "coupon wars"?
It couldn't have possibly been to undercut the commissary in order to siphon off shoppers now, could it?
In our area, the nearest grocery store is a 30 minute drive from main base...walmart is another 20 minutes or so beyond that and with gas over $4 a gallon, the impact on the service members is going to be significant...
Albertson's has some of the highest prices I've ever seen on the same products carried by the commissary.
Thanks, but I'll work to keep the benefit, even with the oh so egregious 5% surcharge.
The article said the savings are dependent on where you live. Here in Alaska, the 30% savings is no BS. I am consistently amazed comparing prices when I go to the local grocery stores. The savings are less in produce, bakery and dairy, but everything else at the commissary is far cheaper. Even with it being 45 miles away we save with a monthly load up, and it would hurt our budget badly if the commissary shut down.
The exchange now, that’s a worthless store. No point in going there at all.