Soldier demo tunes in to music, videos and games

DSN Retailing Today, Oct 25, 2004 by Doug Desjardins

Home entertainment isn't the first thing you associate with a military exchange, but given the fact many soldiers and airmen are under the age of 20, it's one of the most in-demand categories. That's why AAFES puts such an emphasis on entertainment with its Power Zone centers.

The Power Zones serve as one-stop destinations for consumer electronics and home entertainment, stocking a full range of products from laptop computers and cell phones to DVD players and video games. The product selection and layout of the Power Zones is fairly standard, but they come in a wide range of sizes that vary with the size of the base they serve.

"If you look at consumer electronics department at Target, that's about the average size, and it's fairly typical in terms of selection," said John Engroff, divsional merchandise manager for Power Zone. "They probably average between 7,000 and 8,000 square feet, but some are as big as 16,000 or 17,000 square feet." He notes the Power Zone at Ft. Hood is so large that it's housed in a stand-alone building.

Though they're located on Army and Air Force bases and cater to military personnel, the Power Zones aren't much different than your typical Best Buy or Wal-Mart entertainment area. The sections are laid out in a standard grid with aisles dedicated to specific categories. "We also have Top Ten endcaps in each section and a best-sellers section for each genre," said Engroff.

And like Best Buy, the real traffic drivers for Power Zones are music and video software, since a typical soldier spends plenty of down time listening to music and watching movies. "We do a very good job with music and DVDs," said Engroff. "That's especially true with DVD, which has really started to grow."

And like most major retailers, the exchanges are able to use their buying clout to have record labels send some of their biggest bands and artists to the stores for appearances and live performances.

"We're able to arrange a lot of live appearances at our stores both in the U.S. and overseas," said Engroff. "And our music and video suppliers provide us with a great deal of assistance in working out those visits." Actor Mario Van Peebles appeared at the Power Zone in Ft. Hood on Sept. 18, and Dolly Parton played a show at Ft. Campbell on Sept. 19.

Sampling before you buy is also a big part of Power Zone. Movie fans can watch trailers of new hit films on screens around the store, and customers can sample CDs and video games before they make a decision on what to buy. "We have listening stations in all of our stores, as well as video game kiosks," said Engroff.

The exchanges source their product from most of the major vendors and don't focus on any one in particular. And with more than 3,150 retail outlets worldwide, AAFES operates like any other large retailer and doesn't use a middleman for distribution.

"We deal directly with our vendors," said Engroff. "And who we deal with depends on what part of the world you're talking about. In the States, we'll deal with Sony America and in Southeast Asia we'll go through Sony Japan."

AAFES uses its buying power to broker great prices on product that it passes on to its customers. "Our goal is to offer the best prices we can, and I think we do a pretty good job of that in all categories," said Engroff, who noted that hardware and software prices are as good or better then those at the major retailers.

Aside from music and video software, probably the best-selling category in the entertainment sections is portable electronics. Given the nomadic lifestyle of most military personnel, having entertainment to take on the road or to remote outposts is a must.

"Our stores sell a great deal of portable electronics, especially in our contingency operations," said Engroff. "Our best-selling products include portable CD players, MP3 players and boom boxes as well as laptop computers."