Last year, the 90,000-square-foot commissary at Camp Humphreys, South Korea, counted over $4.2 million in sales from around 66,500 customers, according to the Defense Commissary Agency. (David Choi/Stars and Stripes)
CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea — The grocery store on the largest U.S. military installation overseas has been named the best overseas large commissary of the year by the Defense Commissary Agency.
The Camp Humphreys commissary learned of the title March 1, according to an email Wednesday from DeCA spokeswoman Tressa Smith.
The grocery store at Camp Humphreys, South Korea, has been named the best overseas large commissary of the year by the Defense Commissary Agency. (David Choi/Stars and Stripes)
Credit for the award goes to the commissary employees, who “work hard and consistently do their jobs well,” commissary officer Myong Brown said Wednesday in a separate email.
“The Camp Humphreys commissary is like a symphony orchestra, in that all the employees and annex stores must play off the same sheet of music to remain in harmony,” she said. “Our zone manager is the conductor, and our working teams and annex stores are the music. Our music is not and never will be perfect; however, we stay in rhythm every day.”
Second place this year went to the commissary at U.S. Army Garrison Bavaria in Grafenwöhr, Germany. Last year’s first-place winner was the commissary at Osan Air Base, just a few miles north of Humphreys.
Each of DeCA’s approximately 235 commissaries in 13 countries were assessed on sales, customer surveys, safety, display contests, special events, cleanliness and organization, the agency said in a news release March 14.
“This year’s winners put a lot of hard work into providing the best benefit for our patrons,” DeCA acting chief operating officer Robert Bunch said in the release. “We have a lot of great employees at store level, and these awards are a testament to their commitment to their patrons.”
Last year, the 90,000-square-foot Humphreys commissary counted over $4.2 million in sales from around 66,500 customers, according to DeCA. Around 10% of sales come from meat and produce.
Lower prices draw Sgt. First Class Charles McCoy, an electromagnetic spectrum manager for Eighth Army, to the commissary.
“The commissary has been beneficial for me due to the meats being at a decent price compared to off post,” he said while shopping there Thursday. “Also, the variety of cereal, rice and vegetables have been something that I find myself coming back to due to pricing.”
McCoy, who’s lived in South Korea six years, said many items were out of stock during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the commissary was “able to bounce back.”
“This place always stays clean; I haven’t seen it not being clean,” he said. “It’s been good, and the staff has always been great.”
Air Force spouse Sarah Prothero said her family can “usually find everything that we need” at the commissary; however, certain items like produce can be “really expensive, even if it’s locally sourced.”
“They always have enough registers open; it’s always really good,” she said. “I don’t have to wait for 10 minutes to check out, so that’s always really nice.”
