AAFES has operated a shoppette, furniture store and garden supply outlet in a mini mall on Area 1 at Aviano Air Base for decades. That's set to change next year, when both retailer Four Seasons and the Subway restaurant move across town to the main mall on the flight line. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Big changes are coming to Aviano Air Base early next year, when a restaurant and a furniture store are planned to be consolidated from one area into existing operations on the main base several miles away.
The relocation of Subway and Four Seasons to the base’s main exchange is intended to benefit military families, Chris Ward, a spokesman at AAFES headquarters in Dallas, said Friday.
But the move is also associated with an attempt to cut more than 40 jobs held by Italians and has sparked union outrage.
Ward didn’t provide details on what might replace the two venues in the small mall on Area 1, where dining options are currently limited to Subway and a bowling alley.
And it isn’t clear how the inventory of the Four Seasons facility on Area 1 would fit in the main exchange.
Ward said the Army and Air Force Exchange Service is merging the Four Seasons with the main exchange to “provide greater customer convenience through one-stop shopping.”
But Angelo Zaccaria, a union coordinator for local employees at Aviano, said the Four Seasons is closing because it’s losing money. That’s not a valid reason for laying off local staff, and doing so violates the union contract with the base, he said Friday.
“They have to justify it. They can’t say ‘We don’t make money, that’s it,’” he said. “For the local economy, 44 people are 44 families that lose their jobs. There are people who have been working for 40 years. Now they’re near their retirement (and AAFES says), ‘We don’t care.’”
Area 1 is home to the base’s schools and education center, chapel, medical facilities, teen center and base library. Area 2, across a narrow street, is currently vacant.
It used to house dormitories that provided more potential customers to Area 1 facilities. But they were torn down years ago due to force protection concerns.
When the converted mini mall opened in 2004, it was initially open 24 hours a day on Fridays and Saturdays. It is dominated by the large Four Seasons, which consists of a shoppette, furniture store and covered patio area with garden supplies.
Two restaurants once existed in the mini mall along with a few other shops. The building originally housed the main exchange at Aviano before a much larger facility opened on the flight line at the turn of the century.
The Subway restaurant on Area 1 at Aviano Air Base, Italy, will move across town to the main retail complex on the flight line beginning next year. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Lines form at the beginning of the lunch break Sept. 27, 2004, in the main exchange's food court at Aviano Air Base, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
The main exchange at Aviano Air Base in Italy, shown Sept. 27, 2024, anchors a retail mall on the flight line along with the base's commissary. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
There are currently around 760 Italians working at the Aviano base, Zaccaria said. The two unions that represent workers at bases around Italy generally are very protective of positions negotiated between the union and U.S., and Italian governments are always wary of jobs being transferred to American dependents.
Ward countered that the consolidation would be for the better.
“Improving the customer experience and enhancing operational efficiencies are critical to maximizing support to authorized shoppers and military quality-of-life programs,” he said.
