Commissary’s Sales Take Sail Due to Strike
By George Anderson
Commissaries at the San Diego Naval Station and in other areas with military installations dealing with the strike by the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union are
among the beneficiaries of the job action.
The San Diego Union-Tribune reports sales at the at the Naval Station commissary for the last two weeks are up three percent, compared to the same period last year.
The increase is being attributed to active duty and retired armed forces personnel coming to the commissary instead of crossing the picket line.
The store director, Gene Rice said, “I wasn’t expecting much of an increase,” he acknowledged. “It overwhelmed us.”
Moderator’s Comment: What do you think is the most important storyline around the grocery strikes?
One of the main storylines around this issue has been the pressure grocers feel to reign in costs to enable them to be more price competitive with Wal-Mart.
Although, it is not mentioned in this article, the commissaries have also lost business to Wal-Mart because, even though the commissaries sell goods at cost plus a five percent
operations fee, they are often priced higher than the Supercenters and Division One stores near the base. [George
Anderson – Moderator]