Cash Tills Fall Silent at JHQ NAAFI 09.08.13
91If you live at the JHQ Rheindahlen Military Complex in Germany and you need anything from the NAAFI shop it's too late!
At seven o'clock on Friday evening the store that first opened its doors in the nineteen fifties and became known as NAAFI's "Jewel in the Crown" closed for good.
It's the latest phase in the closure of the JHQ site near Mönchengladbach that will be handed over to the German authorities in December.
JHQ was where Britain's most senior military commanders in Germany used to work and the shop reflected that.
As units have slowly left Rheindahlen and the population has dropped from nine thousand to a few hundred the NAAFI has had to adapt.
Parts of the store closed years ago and false walls have shrunk the floor space but the variety of products is said not to have altered.
Paul Smith, JHQ NAAFI Shop Manager, said: "We haven't lost any of the range. The range is still there but there's less facings. It looks full at all times."
There have been a few reductions on perishable items today but anyone hoping for "an everything must go" clearance sale will have been disappointed.
As the JHQ store closes stock will go to other NAAFI shops in Germany along with most of its workers although a small number have taken up new jobs in the UK.