Saipan Troop Store Team Greets a Small Island With a Big Heart
Part of the Northern Mariana Islands, Saipan is about 500 miles northeast of Guam, nearly 1,500 miles from Tokyo and about 3,700 miles west of Honolulu. The island is 14 miles long, six miles wide and home to about 50,000 people.
And the Exchange has a Troop Store there. Since 2017, the store, part of the Guam Exchange, has been in a 5,000-square-foot building. But it didn’t start that way.
“This store actually started in a container,” said Josephine Palacios, the store manager. “Somebody would come in from Guam two or three times a week to open the container for the service members in Saipan.”
The Saipan Troop Store team, from left: Nieves Camacho, customer experience associate; Mayumi Aguon, inventory control associate; Ray Anthony Pangelinan; Edwin Tenorio II, shift manager; Noki Torres, store worker; Josephine Palacios; store manager; Joey Pangelinan, shift manager; Joselito Pena, laborer; Nikissa Lizama, laborer; Juan Kaainoa; and Lillian Diaz, customer experience associate.
Palacios is on her second stint with the Exchange. She started in 1997, left in 2003, was called back in 2010 and has been with the organization ever since. All of her Exchange career has been at the Saipan store, which was still in a container when she started.
“The Exchange decided to hire somebody from Saipan to establish a store here,” Palacios said. “It started out opening only a couple of days a week, and then progressed to five days and then seven.”
It also expanded—to three containers, totaling about 1,000 square feet.
“Since then, it’s been growing,” Palacios said of the store. “The number of troops increased. There are also retirees and dependents and Coast Guard members here. We assist with support for Merchant Marine ships. It has really increased over the years.”
The U.S. military has a long history on Saipan. American Memorial Park, on the island’s west coast, honors U.S. troops who were killed in battles that took place between the U.S. and Japan during World War II. It also honors Chamorros and Carolinian civilians, members of the island’s two indigenous groups, who were killed during the battles.
Now the U.S. Army Reserve has a base on the island, and the Army has a recruitment center there. Palacios says the store collaborates well with them and with Theater Support Group-Pacific personnel on the island. Service members also come in from Tinian, another Northern Mariana Island that’s accessible to Saipan via plane or ferry.
To meet the growing population, the current store opened after a $2.8 million expansion in 2017 adding a wider variety of merchandise.
“We’re like a mini-Exchange,” Palacios said. “Along with being a troop store, we carry appliances, like washing machines and refrigerators. With our general manager’s help, we launched buy online pickup in store, and that really helped our customers, especially during COVID. Customers have really been grateful for that. It’s a remote area, and they don’t have to fly over to Guam to go shopping and buy a plane ticket to come back.”
During a visit there this year, Air Force Col. Jason Beck, the Exchange’s Pacific Region commander, and Army Sgt. Major Generose Green, Pacific Region senior enlisted advisor, were impressed with the store team of about a dozen associates.
“They are the epitome of ‘family serving family,’” Beck said. “Associates greet every customer that enters the store by name. They know literally everyone who comes in to the store, and I saw lots of conversations with associates asking customers how their kids and family are. It’s awesome seeing our associates cultivating such close relationships with our customers.”
Green added, “The energy, commitment and most importantly the teamwork demonstrated by the Saipan team is outstanding. All of them welcome the customers with a big smile. I praise them for their loyalty to the organization.”
Palacios, who is a Chamorro, said that people on the island, a mix of U.S. citizens, native Asians, Pacific Islanders and others, tend to be laid-back, humble and friendly.
“I love my job,” she said. “I love working with our team. I enjoy meeting new people. The customers are often the same customers all year long, so we know our customers very well. I know the Exchange is ‘family serving family,’ but it feels like it’s even more than that, because it’s a small island and everyone knows each other.”
