Fewer stores gear up for for biannual case lot sale

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Fewer stores gear up for for biannual case lot sale
By Kevin Dougherty, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Monday, May 5, 2008

The Defense Commissary Agency-Europe is gearing up for its biannual case lot sale later this month, and while more goods will be available this spring than last, far fewer stores plan to participate than in past years.

Two years ago, for example, more than 50 stores took part in this annual rite of spring for bargain hunters. But with the drawdown of forces and the consolidation of resources in communities with multiple commissaries, just 31 stores will stock up this time for the May sale.

“We are rethinking how we do these case lot sales to get the bigger bang for the buck,” said Gerri Young, a spokeswoman for DeCA-Europe.

DeCA officials allow store directors to set their own dates for the two-day sale, and most chose the Memorial Day weekend. Hohenfels opted to hold theirs the week before, while Aviano and Naples in Italy, and Ankara and Incirlik in Turkey decided for different reasons to go a week later. The store in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, plans to hold its case lot sale May 29-30.

“(Such) sales have caught on more and more over the years,” said Ron Trimble, deputy store director at the Patch Barracks commissary in Stuttgart, Germany.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=54559