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The commissary at Moffett Federal Airfield in Mountain View will remain open for at least two more years — a temporary reprieve for local military families and veterans who rely on the store for discounted groceries and household items.
The commissary was originally at risk of shutting down this year, when its lease with NASA Ames, which owns the building, was set to end. That lease has now been extended for two more years, with the option for an additional one-year extension to 2029, Rep. Sam Liccardo announced Wednesday.
The deal follows outcry from local community members and pressure from elected officials, including Liccardo, who argue that the commissary is an essential resource for Bay Area military service members, veterans and their families. The next closest commissaries are located in Fairfield and Monterey, both of which are over an hour away from the Moffett location.
More than 2,000 people signed a petition aimed at saving the local commissary. The petition’s organizer, Heather McLaughlin, whose husband is in the U.S. Army Reserve, relies on it to buy weekly groceries for her family.
“The commissary is not just a grocery store,” she told the Voice. “It’s a place where military families can know that the other people that are shopping there understand the sacrifices that military-connected people make. It acts like a community hub.”
The extended contract between NASA and the Defense Commissary Agency gives officials more time to secure funding and find a new long-term location for the store, Liccardo said.
“The commissary is a lifeline to many military families and veterans who struggle to afford to live in this very expensive place, and it’s also an important community cornerstone,” Liccardo told the Voice.
Like McLaughlin, approximately 8,000 local families routinely utilize the Moffett Field commissary, which has been operating since the 1950s, said Colonel John Nestor of the 63rd Readiness Division – a command of the U.S. Army Reserve headquartered in Mountain View. He added that there’s probably another 40,000 veterans in the area who are eligible to shop at the commissary, based on the number of individuals enrolled at the local Veterans Affairs hospital.
“This was a navy town and those military roots go deep here,” Nestor said, highlighting why he thinks it’s important to maintain a commissary in Mountain View or a nearby city.
Commissaries provide military personnel, veterans and their families with significant cost savings on groceries, Nestor said. Patrons save at least 25% on food and household items, according to the U.S. Army Benefits webpage.
Prompted by community members’ concerns over the potential loss of this local resource, Liccardo sent a letter in October to John Hall, the director of DeCA, urging him to help develop a plan “that preserves or replaces this critical facility and ensures continued access for the Bay Area’s military community.”
Liccardo met with Hall earlier this month to discuss extending the lease, and DeCA reached a deal with NASA less than two weeks later.
“This commissary is a critical resource,” Hall said in an emailed statement to the Voice. “We are fully committed to preserving this benefit for the community.”
Looking to open a new commissary
With confirmation that the commissary can remain operational for at least another two years, Liccardo plans to work on securing funding for a new commissary in the next budget cycle.
The current location is not a viable long-term option for the commissary due to the building’s age and need for repairs, Nestor said. He added that officials with the 63rd Readiness Division have already been exploring options to keep a commissary in the area. One potential solution would be establishing a public-private partnership, in which a developer would build a commissary on existing federal property in Mountain View.
Nestor acknowledged that having additional time to work on pinning down a solution will be convenient, but he emphasized that the 63rd Readiness Division is committed to tackling this issue quickly to ensure continuity for local military families and veterans.
“We won’t slow down because we have the extra time,” Nestor said. “We want to go ahead and get this thing settled as soon as possible.”
