It’s time to check your pantry, assess your grocery needs and make plans to stretch your grocery dollars. The Defense Commissary Agency’s September Sidewalk Sale events are upon us.
Extra savings will be offered on a variety of products at all 176 stateside commissary stores, to include Alaska and Hawaii, during three- or four-day sales at the stores.
The dates vary by store, but sales start as early as Sept. 1 at Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base, North Carolina, and Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas. The last sale ends Oct. 1 at Fort Polk, Louisiana. Check the commissary agency’s sidewalk sale page to find the dates for a particular store.
As the name suggests, the sales are generally held on sidewalks outside stores.
Among the products that will be offered at bigger discounts are baby products; snacks, such as nuts, beef jerky, chips, candy and peanut butter; baking and canned goods, such as vegetables, beans and fruit; non-food items like toilet paper, paper towels, wipes, body soap, laundry and cleaning products, trash bags and charcoal; pet food and supplies; health and beauty products; international foods, such as noodle bowls; beverages, including juices, teas, energy drinks, coffee and flavored water; lunch meat; and cereal.
Customers overseas should check with their local stores to see what specific promotions are being offered.
“Our September Sidewalk Sales event offers our patrons the chance to stock up and save even more on top of our normal savings,” said Navy Command Master Chief Mario Rivers, senior enlisted adviser to the commissary agency director, in an announcement about the sales events.
“With children going back to school and sports fans gearing up for their football watch parties, this is the perfect time to use your commissary benefit to lighten the load on your grocery budget,” he said.
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Commissary officials advise customers to check their store’s website or talk with their store manager for any late changes, including weather-related postponements.
A number of items are sold in bulk, so check your pantry to make sure you’ve got the storage space and be mindful of how much your vehicle will hold as you transport your stash home.
It always pays to do some price comparisons with stores outside the gate ahead of time and throughout the year.
Taxpayer dollars are used to operate commissaries, with the goal of 25% average savings for customers. Remember that commissaries don’t charge tax, but there is a 5% surcharge on the purchase at the cash register, used to pay for building, modernizing and maintaining commissary facilities.
Those eligible to shop at commissaries include active duty, Guard and Reserve members, military retirees, Medal of Honor recipients and authorized family members.
Veterans with any Department of Veterans Affairs-documented, service-connected disability rating are eligible for commissary shopping, as well as Purple Heart recipients, former prisoners of war and individuals who have been approved and designated as the primary caregivers of eligible veterans by the VA.
In a pilot program offered at 16 stores, DOD civilians are also allowed to shop at commissaries.
Karen has covered military families, quality of life and consumer issues for Military Times for more than 30 years, and is co-author of a chapter on media coverage of military families in the book “A Battle Plan for Supporting Military Families.” She previously worked for newspapers in Guam, Norfolk, Jacksonville, Fla., and Athens, Ga.
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