Online expansion opens military exchange to another 240K shoppers in Tampa Bay area

TAMPA — Military exchanges like the one at MacDill Air Force Base have long offered big savings to active-duty troops, military retirees and their families.

Starting Saturday, Veterans Day, deals like 25 percent off on watches, 30 percent off smokers and $70 off an HP laptop will be available to a whole lot more people worldwide — anyone, in fact, who has ever been honorably discharged from the military.

In the Tampa Bay area, the expansion is projected to boost the customer base from about 140,000 now to some 380,000 — and increase the exchange’s local economic impact from about $35 million annually to $100 million over the next five years.

"This includes salaries and businesses that support the exchanges," said Tom Shull, director and chief executive officer of the Dallas-based Army and Air Force Exchange Service. "We are looking at almost tripling the overall economic impact over a five-year period."

http://www.tampabay.com/news/military/macdill/Online-expansion-opens-military-exchange-to-another-240-000-shoppers-in-Tampa-Bay-area_162374110