Retired Army engineer William Obrien was first in line at the grand opening. He arrived before 6 a.m.

"It's great for us. We don't have to go outside [Fort Bliss]," he said.

The new facility replaces a similar, slightly smaller one built in 1981.

"The old store was like a run-down car," commissary director Micheal Mena said, smiling. "It feels good to shop here (now), feels good to come in, makes you want to buy more."

Mena said he hired about 25 new employees to staff the store and may hire more in the future.

"A lot of them are military spouses that have been deployed here, and we have them as cashiers," Mena said.

One of those cashiers is Annie Reed.

"It's a very beautiful store. I gotta say, it's very beautiful," Reed told KFOX-14 as she filled her register with cash and coins. "Everybody has looked forward to it."

Reed's husband served in the army for 21 years. Reed said the couple was stationed on Fort Bliss three times during her husband's service, so they decided to make El Paso their home.

"This is a world-class commissary for a world-class community," Fort Bliss Maj. General Dina Pittard said to a crowd just before the ribbon cutting.

Store officials boasted og energy-efficient heating, cooling and lighting; wider aisles; more registers; laser updated prices; and new just about everything.

They said there are more than 127,000 people -- active duty, guard and reserve, retirees and family members -- living within 20 miles of the store that are able to shop there.