Attention, Seabee Shoppers
Active and retired military personnel and their families came by the hundreds Thursday morning to the newly opened $17.6-million Navy Exchange and commissary to gaze, buy, socialize and inspect the giant shopping center that has been seven years in the planning.
Parents pushing baby strollers joined Seabees shoving shopping carts around the 133,000-square-foot complex--twice as large as the old facility--at the entrance of the Naval Construction Battalion Center in Port Hueneme.
From a full-service bakery, to a larger food court, to a jewelry store carrying jade, semiprecious stones, silver and gold, the shopping facility--rivaling in size a typical discount department store--had something for nearly every shopper to explore.
“This base has needed this for a long time,” said Michael Trammell, a Seabee who brought his family out to shop. “It’s big and it’s convenient.”
Built to replace an aging 1973 structure, the Navy Exchange is financed from profits set aside from sales, while the commissary is paid for through a 5% surcharge added to each grocery bill.
At the new commissary, shoppers can select from 2,000 additional items, said John Ryan, spokesman for the Southwest Defense Commissary Agency. The Port Hueneme facility is the only large-scale military shopping facility between Vandenburg Air Force Base in Lompoc and Los Angeles, according to officials.
The grand opening was a bargain hunter’s dream. Shoppers do not pay any sales tax at the Navy Exchange and commissary, so every item is sold for significantly less than at nonmilitary stores. Shoppers can also bring in items they purchased at commercial retailers like Wal-Mart or Target and receive a comparable price if the Navy Exchange items are more expensive.
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Though they may not like the increasing competition, Target officials think this is a smart tactic.
“That’s good business sense,” said Lars Koerber, a customer service manager at the Oxnard Target store. “We match prices with Wal-Mart all the time. If you want to stay competitive, you have to keep people happy.”
Pete and Luminada Canilao recognize a deal when they see one. The couple bought most of the bath towels on display at the Navy Exchange bed and bath area--at $2.99 each, it was too good to pass up.
Though at least one shopper complained about the Canilaos’ snagging of towels, the couple didn’t seem to mind, saying that they planned to take the 40 or so towels to their relatives in the Philippines as gifts.
For other shoppers such as Pearl and Jim Rupert, both retired from the military, the experience was overwhelming.
As she dabbed her teary eyes, Pearl Rupert’s excitement was barely contained.
“This is making me cry of happiness,” she said. “This is wonderful. This is like we have our own store where it’s not crowded and you don’t get pushed around and shoved over.”
For many, the event was a family affair, with dozens of military families taking advantage of the affordable prices and vast range of merchandise. Though the abundance of baby carriages caused bottlenecks in the aisles, families continued their search for T-shirts, diapers and baby clothes throughout the morning.
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Meg and Joel Punsalam, who live on the base, brought along their 2-month-old daughter, Moira Jomac, and their 4-year-old son, Jason Lyle. Though Moira just observed the action from her stroller, Jason tugged at his mother’s sleeve as she walked around. After buying shoes and underwear, Meg Punsalam said she was impressed.
“Maybe we’ll spend lunch here too,” she said.
The new store was long in coming, said Vivian Marrero, a veteran military spouse. The new food court offers many choices, from a deli, to Chinese fast food to ice cream.
Though she said she was only browsing Thursday, Marrero said this commissary was just as good as--if not better than--others she has visited throughout the state.
“We deserve it! I’ve lived here 14 years,” said Marrero, whose husband Abraham is in the Navy. “All the products--I can’t believe it! I don’t even have to go into town anymore.”
