When the Exchange launched its first unmanned automated micro market at the Raven Rock Mountain Complex, Pennsylvania, in 2014, the idea of a world-changing pandemic was far from the minds of most Americans.
Yet, six years later, the concept has proved critical in the Exchange’s effort to serve those who serve in a safe, sanitized and secure environment during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Positioned to serve Soldiers and Airmen in training, working odd hours or in out-of-the-way locations, Exchange micro markets offer 24/7 access to food, drink and more in contactless, self-serve environment. Micro markets are stocked with healthy options like fresh fruit and salads, and some even offer sundries such as over-the-counter medicines and personal hygiene items.
Micro markets are one of the fastest-growing formats offered by the Exchange, with the number of locations more than doubling in the past 18 months. Exchange vending concessionaires operate more than 100 micro markets at 50 Army and Air Force installations, including one overseas location in Grafenwoehr, Germany.
“The industry was already changing, and we were hearing more and more from our vendors that they wanted to institute this capability. Then, the pandemic hit,” said Exchange Services Business Program Specialist Terry McKeny. “Micro markets have been around now for quite some time, but it’s just now getting to where they’re really booming.”
And booming they are. Exchange micro market sales grew by 89% in 2020, and some locations, including Fort Polk, Naval Air Station-Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth and Ellsworth, Davis-Monthan and Tinker Air Force bases, saw exponential growth—ranging from 450% to nearly 1,200%—that same year.
Micro markets are typically found in training and educational facilities, dorms and barracks, breakrooms, remote areas and hospitals. Seven micro markets even serve Warfighters in quarantine at Fort Hood, Fort Benning and Ellsworth Air Force Base, further strengthening the Exchange’s commitment to serving those who serve during the pandemic.
“Folks are always looking for healthy options, and having a micro market gives our concessionaires more flexibility to adhere to customers’ desires,” McKeny said. “If you look at a vending machine, the coils are only so large. With a micro market, you can have three different sizes of the same product, and you can tailor the assortment to the size of the facility or how many people are working in that location.”
More than 10 new micro markets have opened in 2021 at Fort Carson, Fort Bragg and Joint Base Lewis-McChord, and more are on the way. The Exchange Services team is also working with vendors to bring features like MILITARY STAR® card acceptance and touchless payment via mobile devices online in the future, though availability of such features will vary by location.
“We’re hoping to open 10 micro markets per region each quarter in 2021,” McKeny said. “The field could also potentially come up with sites that command wants them to set up micro markets in. So we’re really just getting started.”
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