ALL ABOUT SERVICE: Patrick takes center stage with its Commissary CLICK2GO support of DeCA’s participation in ‘Military Makeover’ TV series

NOTE: To see a DeCA video related to the agency’s support of veterans featured on Military Makeover, click here.

FORT LEE, Va. – When you’re a commissary located just south of the Kennedy Space Center, receiving a call to support a television show is just another day at the office.

That was the situation for the staff at the Patrick Space Force Base Commissary near Cocoa Beach, Florida, when they were notified their store’s CLICK2GO online ordering, curbside pickup service would be part of the Defense Commissary Agency’s participation in the “Military Makeover with Montel” series.

“I’m excited about our Commissary CLICK2GO interaction with the Military Makeover show,” said Steven P. Mason, Patrick Commissary assistant store director. “It’s always a good thing to be a part of something that benefits the military family and allows us to show CLICK2GO in action. We are glad we were chosen to represent the Defense Commissary Agency.

Military Makeover is led by Montel Williams, a TV talk show host and Marine Corps and Navy veteran. The series honors veterans by bringing together retailers, designers, contractors, landscapers and other home improvement companies to help transform their homes and lives.

The show’s 30th makeover will feature the renovation of Justin and Kristie Ziegler’s Jupiter, Florida, home. Justin and Kristie are Air Force veterans, childhood sweethearts from South Florida, who both deployed to Afghanistan. The show was taped in March and airs on the following dates: Episode 1 – aired May 20 and May 26; Episode 2 – aired May 27 and June 2; Episode 3 – June 3 and June 9; and Episode 4 – June 10 and June 16. The show airs on Lifetime, Thursdays and Fridays at 7:30 a.m. (ET/PT).

During the show’s production, DeCA worked with the Zieglers to place an order for their groceries through Commissary CLICK2GO, the agency’s online ordering/curbside pickup service. They ordered products from the Patrick Space Force Base Commissary, and store associates there picked the products and processed their order for pickup. DeCA’s audio-visual team, on site to film the agency’s role with Makeover, picked up the groceries from Patrick and delivered them to the Ziegler home. The groceries were donated from EURPAC, a distribution group that delivers products to the military supply channel.

For some, the Patrick Commissary’s support of a television show may appear to be unusual, but for the store associates it’s their normal at the Space Force base. As they serve a unique customer base, their goal is to always give them a “great shopping experience,” Mason said. 

“The Patrick Space Force Base community is a special community,” he continued. “It has more retirees than active duty and it means they have different needs. There’s a big social need. Some of the retirees come here every single day, not because they need to shop, but because it’s part of their routines. They have different connections with our employees here in the store.”

With a patron base dominated by older customers, the Patrick Commissary is aware many of them have special dietary requirements. So, they coordinate with DeCA’s health and wellness team and their local base dietitian to match dietitian-approved foods with their patrons’ dietary needs.

During these inflationary times, access to something that saves money is a premium. That’s the message Mason said his team is promoting at Patrick.

“The commissary is great for savings,” Mason said. “On the average, out of $100 spent in the commissary, you’ll save as much as $25 versus anywhere else. That’s a huge benefit, especially now as prices rise across the country. Our customers love that.”

Patrick’s Commissary CLICK2GO support of the Ziegler family for Military Makeover in Jupiter, which is 120 miles away, is a prime example of how the reach of the benefit can go well beyond the boundaries of the installation, Mason said.

“A lot of people come from a long distance in order to shop and take advantage of their benefit,” he added. “One of the great things [we offer] is our Commissary CLICK2GO. That allows customers to sit at home, make their list on the internet, and come up to pick it up without having to leave their vehicle.

“Sometimes it helps our older customers too because the less they have to walk around to get the things they need, the easier it is for them.”

-DeCA-

About DeCA: The Defense Commissary Agency operates a worldwide chain of commissaries providing groceries to military personnel, retirees and their families in a safe and secure shopping environment. Commissaries provide a military benefit, saving authorized patrons thousands of dollars annually on their purchases compared to similar products at commercial retailers. The discounted prices include a 5-percent surcharge, which covers the costs of building new commissaries and modernizing existing ones. A core military family support element, and a valued part of military pay and benefits, commissaries contribute to family readiness, enhance the quality of life for America’s military and their families, and help recruit and retain the best and brightest men and women to serve their country.