Grand opening: New commissary improves quality of life for Camp Humphreys community

The Defense Commissary Agency’s new Camp Humphreys Commissary came to life Feb. 7, as hundreds of service members and their families lined up in the bitter cold for the doors to open.

The wait was worth it since the new 44,000 square foot, state-of–the-art facility is capable of providing four times the grocery shopping experience compared to the old store.

“It’s amazing. It’s like a super grocery store,” said Chief Warrant Officer 3 Neikesha Thompson as she rounded the frozen food aisle. “With the larger selection my family can enjoy so much more of the food we love.”

With the post’s growing population, the new commissary – the largest in the Pacific theater – accommodates shoppers with a greater selection of food, dairy, meats and produce comparable to what they were accustomed to in the U.S.

During the ribbon-cutting ceremony, retired Rear Adm. Robert J. Bianchi, DeCA’s interim director and CEO, called the new store a real demonstration of DeCA’s commitment to take care of service members, and he thanked all those who had a role in making the opening possible.

Lt. Gen. Michael A. Bills, Eighth Army commanding general, also expressed the gratitude of the community for the long-awaited upgrade of a valued quality of life benefit.

Once the doors opened, the aisles were packed with enthusiastic shoppers as they loaded their carts with the many products that lined the shelves. Opening day deals and giveaways were added to the special experience of being one of the first shoppers in the new store.

“This is definitely worth the trip and the wait,” said Marilyn Tassin, who waited an hour outside before the store opened. “It’s so much bigger and has all kinds of stuff that just wasn’t in the old store.”

The new store includes some of the following features:

• Extensive produce, meat, grocery, frozen, dairy and chill departments
• Fifteen checkouts (three times more than the old store)
• In-store Wi-Fi
• International delicatessen and bakery
• Environmentally friendly and energy-efficient facility

“The store layout is designed to give the customer a pleasant shopping experience on every visit and our staff is eager to help customers locate things in the store,” said store director Myong Brown. “It’s not enough to just have a new store. We want to provide superior service to go with it.”

You can see a selection of photos from the Camp Humphrey's opening on our Flickr page.