Congressman Visits Dallas-Area Express to Learn About Exchange Business—and Even Rings Up a Few Sales

As part of his “Marc Means Business” initiative in which he spends a day seeking to better understand the day-to-day challenges his constituents face, U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey paid a visit June 28 to the Express at Grand Prairie Armed Forces Reserve Complex.

General Manager Kelly Tolefree-Sarmiento gave Veasey a tour of the small Dallas-area store, then Veasey changed clothes and jumped in to work, stocking shelves, learning about inventory-control techniques, talking to customers and even ringing up a few purchases.

Among the Veterans that Veasey talked to was Store Manager Gloria Musquez’s father, a 92-year-old Army Veteran who came to the store along with his family.

U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey visits with Ben O. Musquez, father of Grand Prairie Express Store Manager Gloria Musquez. The elder Musquez is a 92-year-old Veteran who served 30 years in the Army and retired as a master sergeant.

Veasey said that through “Marc Means Business,” he learns about the life journeys of the people in his district, about different cultures and about the challenges that large and small businesses face.

“Today, I’m learning about different military experiences that people have had living in different parts of the world,” Veasey said. “I’m learning just how important it is for people who served, people in uniform. These stores mean a lot to them.”

Veasey grew up in west Fort Worth, not far from Carswell Air Force Base (now Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth), and heard relatives’ stories about military life.

“I had family that had been on the base,” he said. “I had an uncle who served in the Air Force, and an aunt who enlisted and worked at Carswell. It means a lot to families to be able to come into a facility like this. It has a different meaning for them than going into a 7-Eleven or a QuikTrip.”

U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey stocks shelves at the Grand Prairie Express, which he visited June 28 as part of his “Marc Means Business” initiative.

This was Veasey’s second visit to an Exchange facility. In January 2017, “Marc Means Business” took him to Exchange headquarters, where he served Starbucks coffee, bagged groceries and logged inventory at the Express, worked a Burger King lunch shift, and helped Exchange shoppers around the world by putting in time at the customer call center.

Also on hand for Veasey’s Grand Prairie stop were Exchange Vice President of Corporate Policy Denise Hunter, who coordinated the visit with Veasey’s office, and Mid Central Region Vice President Scott Bonner.

Tolefree-Sarmiento, who is also general manager at the NAS JRB Fort Worth Exchange, said she enjoyed Veasey’s visit to the Grand Prairie store, which supports Texas Air National Guard, U.S. Army Reserve and Marine Corps personnel. Formerly a Naval Air Station, the Grand Prairie complex is a few miles west of the Dallas city limits and a short drive from Exchange headquarters.

“It was really good to have the congressman come here to the Grand Prairie store,” Tolefree-Sarmiento said. “We don’t get a lot of visitors, but we’re more than happy to host anybody who wants to come. We have a great team here. We’re a small group but we take care of our customers. It was great to have him interact with the customers and the team.”