Rob Baker

Rob Baker, the store manager, said the store will reopen on Feb. 25.A couple vendors in the expanded food court may need an additional week or two to open.

"It was due," Baker said of the renovation that began in November 2003.
...
The store will have the same amount of shopping space, Baker said, but the clothing section will be expanded.

Since the exchange closed for the renovation, shoppers have had to travel to RAF Feltwell, about 10 miles down a narrow country road that weaves through a few villages.

The exchange was set up in a hangar, which, Baker pointed out, "was not designed for retail."

The Army and Air Force Exchange Service made a decision, Baker said, to close the main store completely and move temporarily to RAF Feltwell rather than close the main store in sections while workers made the improvements.
...
Once that decision was made, Baker said, the command made the hangar at RAF Feltwell available and $9 million worth of merchandise was moved.

"It definitely was an inconvenience to our customers," he said."You couldn't pop over for lunch and be back at work."

Sales have been off about 7 percent, he said, but the store still did $4.5 million worth of business during the Christmas shopping season.

The Lakenheath exchange did $35 million in sales last year, putting it behind those at Ramstein Air Base, Würzburg and Vogelweh in Germany.Baker said he expects to increase the sales figure to $41 million for 2005.

Rob Baker, Store Manager: rbaker@valumarkets.com

If your company/organization would like to take part in the event, please contact Rob Baker @ rbaker@valumarkets.com or David Partee @ iroquois@valumarkets.com.