Straight Talk: Hanscom offers lots of food choices

  • Published
  • By Col. Stacy L. Yike
  • 66th Air Base Group commander
HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. --  Hanscom has lots of places to grab a bite, from the bowling alley to the AAFES food court. There will be a new facility opening up May 1 called Duke's Bar and Grill. The menu sounds great, with burgers and chicken wings, plus some awesome salads.

Read on for more information about the departure of A&P Pizza.

Question: Recently, I was at A&P Pizza, which is next to the Class Six store, and the owner was noticeably upset. At lunch time on March 18, the Exchange services manager came in and posted a large sign which stated, "This facility is closed as of March 16. Sorry for the inconvenience."

The owner said the place was packed and tried to talk with the woman but did not want to cause a scene to determine what caused her to post the sign. She stated that they had been sent a letter stating that the facility was closed and he had until next Tuesday to vacate.

The actions of the Exchange services manager seem a little strange and there should be something under contract law that would allow a good concessionaire more time to vacate. I wonder if someone in your office could investigate this situation.

Response: Thank you for taking the time to express your concern. I understand how disconcerting it could be, given the circumstances. I spoke with the AAFES general manager here at Hanscom to learn more about this. In general, AAFES concessionaires are allowed to operate at the request of AAFES under various contracts, including multi-year contracts. At some point, all contracts are due for re-solicitation which is what happened in this case. The A&P Pizza five-year contract ended Feb. 28, 2011, however, an extension was granted, which ended on March 15. The result of the recent re-solicitation process of the contract was that another concessionaire won the solicitation. We are constantly seeking to provide the best quality services to Team Hanscom and we believe this new concessionaire will bring the best value to all our customers.

To all those who patronized A&P. Pizza, thank you for your support. I hope you will also strongly support Duke's Bar and Grill when they open May 1. We look forward to your feedback.