Hundreds of people waited in line last week for the doors to open to the new Fort Carson commissary.

Some of them were there for hours.

Or in Bernadette Delinois’ case, 3 hours. 

She was waiting to do her regular grocery shopping but her son, Olyon, was in it for the barbecue potato chips.

She is one of thousands of loyal commissary shoppers. “I come here for the deals and the convenience. We live here on post so this is perfect.”

A new place to grocery shop was something that was desperately needed on Fort Carson. 

The old building had a leaky roof and refrigerators, long checkout lines, and a small selection of fresh meat and produce.

The new building is 40 percent larger than its predecessor and has very extensive meat and produce departments, a bakery, sushi to go, and a deli.

Rhonda Smith, store director, is planned to greet 4,000 shoppers on the store’s first day. The new store is offering grand opening prizes and specials all month.

“This building has been in the works for over a year now,” said Smith. “I’m very excited to be up and running and able to serve all of my wonderful customers.”

Commissaries on American military bases worldwide are run by the Defense Commissary Agency. The system of military grocery stores was put in place to ensure troops stable prices and availability of the goods they need no matter where they are on the planet. Retirees can also shop there.

Shoppers get their purchases for cost at the commissary, plus a 5-percent surcharge that pays to run the stores. The system has critics, including some who want to hand the grocery stores over to a private firm.

The new Fort Carson commissary is not that different from what shoppers would find in the biggest supermarkets off base.

“The new facility boasts 20 regular checkout counters, eight self-checkouts, a stock assortment of 21,000 items and more than 475 customer parking spaces,” Fort Carson said in a news release.

Hundreds of patrons wait to shop at the new Fort Carson Commissary, Wednesday. The facility is 50-percent larger than the old commissary and features more products and more variety to meet the needs of the community. Photo by Andrea Sutherland.