Overseas Commissaries Losing Magazines

Starting in January, the Defense Commissary Agency will no longer sell magazines in its overseas stores. This policy affects all commissaries in Europe, the Pacific—Guam, Japan, Okinawa, and South Korea—and Puerto Rico, said DeCA officials Wednesday. “The decision to eliminate magazine sales overseas was not an easy one, but a decision that had to be made in our fiscally constrained environment,” said Chris Burns, DeCA director of sales. Rising costs in transportation and declining sales influenced this decision, he noted. Magazines will still be available in military exchanges and bookstores located near most overseas commissaries, according to DeCA. Further, since Stars & Stripes is printed in theater, the commissaries will still sell this newspaper, said the officials. (Fort Lee report by Leslie Brown)