Commissaries to get Self-Checkouts

[Guest1]

News Release

Nineteen commissaries located in 11 states and one at RAF
Lakenheath, England, are scheduled to have self-checkout lanes installed in time for the
holidays, Defense Commissary Agency officials say.
Fort Meade, Md., is first in line with an early September installation date. The
installations wrap up by mid-November when the last four commissaries – McGuire Air Force
Base, N.J., RAF Lakenheath, and Hickam Air Force Base and Naval Base Pearl Harbor in
Hawaii – are scheduled for completion.
Growing customer acceptance of self-checkouts installed earlier this year in five other
commissaries convinced the agency to expand their use, said Scott Simpson, DeCA’s chief
operating officer.
“They’re a great convenience for people with a few items who want to avoid waiting in
line to check out,” Simpson said.
The self-checkouts first appeared in February in the Langley Air Force Base, Va., store.
Commissaries at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, McClellan, Calif., and Vogelweh and Ramstein air
bases, in Germany, now have them as well.
Self-checkouts are for customers with a few items who scan and bag their own groceries
to avoid waiting in regular checkout lanes. An attendant monitors the lanes, checks shoppers’ ID
cards and provides assistance when needed. The system weighs the contents of the grocery bags
to ensure scanning is done correctly.

Method of payment – credit, debit or cash – is nearly the same as regular checkout lanes.
Self-checkouts also have the capability to scan coupons.
The agency installs a “quad” setup that features four self-checkouts managed by one
attendant. Three regular checkout lanes are removed to make room for the quad.
Following is the list of commissaries and proposed installation times:

Fort Meade, Md. Early September

McChord AFB, Wash. Mid-September

March ARB, Calif. Mid-September

Fort Lewis, Wash. Late September

San Diego NS, Calif. Late September

MCAS Miramar, Calif. Late September

MCB Quantico, Va. Late September

Andrews AFB, Md. Early October

Lackland AFB, Texas Early October

Luke AFB, Ariz. Mid-October

Fort Bliss, Texas Mid-October

Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz. Mid-October

Eglin AFB, Fla. Late October

Scott AFB, Ill. Late October

Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio Early November

Schofield Barracks, Hawaii Early November

McGuire AFB, N.J. Mid-November

Hickam AFB, Hawaii Mid-November

RAF Lakenheath, England Mid-November

NB Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Mid-November

[KKCondrey]

Looks like you'll have yours in about 6 weeks or so Deb.

Sometimes I like them other times I don't. There are times when its quicker to go thru the regular lines then thru these though. I use them if no one is in line waiting and when I have Joes credit/debit card instead of cash.

[Guest1]

I can hardly wait!

I was working part-time at Winn-Dixie when the first self-checkouts were introduced....
What fun that was....
Most folks make it harder than it is....
I really despise our commissary anyway - residual anger from Will's attacks I guess - so anything that allows me to get through there with minimal contact with anyone has got to be a good thing!