THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, April 3, 1996 TAG: 9604030411
SECTION: MILITARY NEWS PAGE: A8 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: CHARLENE CASON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines
Live animals and old food can't be sold. Neither can narcotics or ammunition. But just about everything else - from appliances to zippers - gets bought up by the public.
Welcome to the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service, commonly called ``surplus sales'' by customers who regularly line up at 7 for the daily 9 a.m. opening of the service's retail store.
There are 185 Defense Reutilization and Marketing Offices worldwide. The majority are in the United States. With six warehouses, the Norfolk office just off Hampton Boulevard is one of the largest.
First dibs for goods at the surplus store go to the military, followed by the federal and state governments. The agencies get anything they need free.
Leftovers go to occasional auctions, or to the reutilization service retail store - the place the public loves.
``Rainy days are the best days to come,'' said John Simmons. He has shopped at the surplus sales store ``two or three times a week for the past 15 years.''
On a cold, rainy day he was buying 130 plastic tote pans at 50 cents apiece ``to put all the little junk in I've bought here. My wife said, `Yeah, go get those pans to store it in, then I can set out one a week for the trash collector.' She hates my junk.''
Simmons said he ``had to borrow gas money to come over here today.''
Simmons is a retired civil service worker who lives on a farm in Chesapeake. He plans to open a campground in Florida in a couple of years; he's looking for things he can use there.
If Simmons needs building materials, he'll probably be out of luck at the surplus store. Jeannie Bolden, administration officer, said the military is good at reusing old construction materials.
In fact, the military and federal and state governments take most of what's offered, she said. Still, she and Pam Whitehurst, a property disposal specialist, say it's hard to predict what will end up in the retail store.
``It's a combination of new and used merchandise,'' said Whitehurst. ``But it's all sold `as is,' no discounts, no negotiating on prices. We don't know what works and what doesn't.''
A sign near the entrance to the warehouse-sized store says, ``No running or walking fast.'' Customers, especially regulars who have heard about new stock, are eager to start shopping.
``Cameras, calculators and binoculars go within minutes,'' Whitehurst said.
Other big sellers are computers, photographic processing equipment, uniforms, tools and furniture. Although you must be at least 18 to buy, customers are ``all ages, all classes.''
``The prices are comparable to flea markets,'' Whitehurst said.
The retail store carries no ``rolling stock'' - cars, trucks, tanks or railroad cars. Those can be bought by sealed bid. Listings for everything not in the retail store are available through several Department of Defense catalogs.
Worldwide, the auctions and retail stores sold more than $302 million in fiscal year 1995.
The value of items reutilized, transferred or donated worldwide was about $3.5 billion.
There are Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service warehouses near every major military installation, Bolden said. The property offered varies according to whether it's Navy, Army or Air Force materials. There are Navy warehouses in Portsmouth and Williamsburg, and the Army has its own warehouse near Fort Eustis. ILLUSTRATION: VICKI CRONIS\The Virginian-Pilot
John Simmons of Chesapeake hauls away 130 plastic tote pans he
bought at the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service store in
Norfolk.
by CNB