AAFES seeks new book, magazine suppliers - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

AAFES seeks new book, magazine suppliers

Army and Air Force Exchange Service officials and Navy Exchange Service Command officials are scrambling to find another supplier of books and magazines after Anderson News announced this week that it has stopped operations.

Anderson News has supplied books and magazines for the majority of AAFES stores in the U.S., as it did for a number of other retailers, AAFES spokesman Judd Anstey said. Anderson supplied them for Navy exchanges in several NEXCOM regions, NEXCOM spokeswoman Kristine Sturkie said. Information was not available about which stores are affected.

Information was not immediately available about whether the shutdown has affected Marine Corps exchanges.

The shutdown should not affect delivery to stateside commissaries, said Kevin Robinson, a spokesman for the Defense Commissary Agency. There may be a possibility of a delay in delivery to Hawaii commissaries only, but the commissary agency’s magazine distributor The News Group is working “to ensure our service levels are maintained,” Robinson said.

The News Group used Anderson News as a subcontractor to deliver to about 20 commissaries, and has made arrangements for vendor deliveries and stocking at these stores.

The situation does not have an effect on the delivery and sale of newspapers, including Army Times, Navy Times, Air Force Times and Marine Corps Times. Nor does it affect the delivery of books and magazines to AAFES and NEXCOM facilities outside the continental U.S.

“Our books and magazines buyer is working as hard as she can to find new suppliers in those areas that are affected,” Sturkie said.

“We’ve got teams of people in place trying to solve this issue,” Anstey said. “They’re talking with other CONUS-based suppliers.”

“We are extremely sorry for any inconvenience this may cause and want to assure military shoppers that this is an extremely important issue to AAFES,” said Tim Calkins, contracting officer for AAFES Books and Magazines, in an announcement about the situation.