Veterans Canteen Service (VCS)

VCS80

VCS80: Canteen Service Celebrates 80 Years as Benefit to Veterans - Customers can enjoy birthday specials week of August 7.

Celebrate the VCS birthday with specials in PatriotStores nationwide, Aug. 3-8, while supplies last:

• $16 Bath & BodyWorks soap three-packs
• 25 percent off all candles – Aug. 7-8 only
• 80-cent candy bars (for 80 years of VCS!) – Aug. 6-7 only
• Buy one, get one free Karma Water – Aug. 6-7 only
• 25 percent off Kendra Scott and Lynx jewelry
• 25 percent off military accessories (excludes Rothco-brand accessories)
• 25 percent off select VCS-label polos and T-shirts
• Plus more!

Sticking with the 80-year theme, VCS PatriotCafés will offer the following specials:

• Monday, Aug. 3 – 80-cent pancakes in the café and $1.80 blueberry muffin or small coffee in PatriotBrew coffee shops
• Tuesday, Aug. 4 – 80-cent slice of apple pie
• Wednesday, Aug. 5 – 80-cent value grilled cheese sandwich
• Thursday, Aug. 6 – 80-cent coffee
• Friday, Aug. 7 – 80-cent fountain beverages

Also, VCS is offering deals online:

• 10 percent off military, watches, fashion, home & kitchen, gifts & outdoor (excludes Pandora jewelry, PatriotJewels, tickets and travel options, floral, and PatriotVision)
• Up to 65 percent off Delmar jewelry from VCS PatriotJewels, Aug. 1-9 (vcsjewels.com)

“At the Veterans Canteen Service, we are honored to serve those who have served our nation,” said VCS Acting Executive Director Renee Claypool. “Every day, our teams are committed to providing more than products and meals, we create welcoming spaces that foster comfort, connection and a sense of community.”

Celebrations and special offers for VCS’s 80th birthday will continue through the end of 2026.  Updates and more information can be found on the VCS website or by subscribing to VCS emails or Facebook and Instagram.

VCS was established as a program office within the Veterans Administration (VA) of the United States by Public Law 79-636 on August 7, 1946. Then-VA Administrator Gen. Omar Bradley deemed the Canteen Service necessary, as the private, for-profit concessioners’ products and services were found to be “deficient” by Veterans and Veterans organizations of the time.

VCS initially opened in 119 VA hospitals, and by 1947, Canteens sales exceeded $5 million, selling small, dime-store items. At the time, tuna sandwiches cost 15 cents, sodas were 5 cents, and pies could be had for 18 cents. Eighty years later, VCS is a self-sustaining service embedded in nearly 200 VA medical centers and clinics, providing retail, café, coffee, vending, retail optical, and many other customer-facing services.

VCS grew steadily, expanding to full-fledged retail stores with apparel, electronics, and fragrances, and adding more cafés, barber shops, and vending services. New technology created new opportunities for innovation, as well. In 1977, VCS began using electronic cash registers and accounting equipment. The centralized VCS Finance Center began fully computerized operations in 1983.

Since the 1990s, VCS has diversified options, adding PatriotStoreDirect, which began selling tires via phone orders, and now also sells flowers, jewelry, camping items and much more online; the PatriotBrew coffee shops, providing Veterans with various coffee beverages, signature drinks, pastries, snacks, and small meals; and PatriotVision, providing name-brand frames, prescription lenses, and more special eyewear. By 2019, VCS reached $500 million in sales for the first time.

All the while, VCS managed to give back to the VA community. VCS, after paying back its initial startup appropriation, began giving back to VA programs that help Veterans, including Veteran homelessness programs, suicide prevention, and women Veteran programs. Since the 1980s, VCS has given a portion of revenues to support VA’s Adaptive Sports and Arts events, including the National Veterans Creative Arts Festival, National Veterans Golden Age Games, and National Veterans Wheelchair Games.

The 3,000 dedicated VCS employees deliver this benefit to Veterans in 49 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

New Coffee

This spring, Veterans Canteen Service (VCS) is lowering PatriotBrew coffee prices by partnering with a new roaster to bring the highest-quality coffees, teas, and refreshers to the VA community, while providing the same great service for Veterans.

PatriotBrew customer-favorite beverages will still be available, while overall prices will decrease to an average of 30-percent below other coffee establishments. The new coffee service will offer a refreshed specialty drink menu, new plant-based energy refreshers, and more.

VCS PatriotBrews plan to hold “tasting” events in coffee shops throughout VA on June 5, giving customers the opportunity to sample new flavors and improved favorites.

“The overall quality of our coffee, tea, and specialty beverages will be higher than before, as well as more affordable for Veterans,” said Lu Ann Swehla, chief nutrition and whole health officer for VCS. “Other than that, nothing is changing in the PatriotBrew. It’s the same great service, and our loyalty program still rewards a free small coffee on your tenth coffee purchase.”

In addition, customers will enjoy healthier, clean ingredients, such as non-GMO chai, 100-percent organic matcha, and Lotus Energy plant-based energy drinks, which are made in the USA.

VCS will brew coffee supplied by Ronnoco, an American company with more than 120 years of history in the coffee industry. The partnership with Ronnoco-roasted coffee will also streamline the coffee supply chain, resulting in continuity of products and maintenance of coffee equipment.

"Our new partnership will bring the best value to the world’s best customers – America’s Veterans,” said VCS Executive Director James Leahy. “With a more efficient supply chain, we can ensure standardization throughout our PatriotBrew coffee shops.”

“We are excited to serve this custom-blend coffee to our Veteran customers, their families, and other guests of the medical centers,” said Swehla. “I believe customers will enjoy this new private-label VCS coffee brand.”

For more information about the VCS PatriotBrew coffee shops, visit the PatriotBrew page. For a directory of VCS locations, visit the VCS location directory.

Order Online

Veterans Canteen Service (VCS) is expanding PatriotStoreDirect online product offerings to include floral, jewelry, and gifts, plus expanded jewelry and vision items through new online shopping sites PatriotVision, powered by Lensabl, and PatriotJewels, powered by Delmar Jewelers.

VCS offer high-quality merchandise from national brands like Phillip’s Flowers, Glass Baron, Firestone, Goodyear, and more.

These new offerings give Veterans more options to shop with VCS in a convenient way. Customers can submit an order on the VCS website.

Through PatriotStoreDirect, VCS sells name-brand tires at tax-free, discounted pricing; prescription contact lenses; unique gifts; jewelry; floral arrangements; and much more exclusively to Veterans, their families, caregivers, and VA employees. VCS customer service is ready to help customers complete their orders.

VCS is offering floral arrangements and jewelry at 10% less than other national retailers. Gifts from Glass Baron, which include merchandise with official U.S. armed forces license, start as low as $15.

“We are excited to add these lines to our automotive tire and prescription contact lens services at PatriotStoreDirect,” said Lori Lee, chief services officer for VCS. “Our goal is to add value to the VCS benefit for Veterans and their families.”

Lee said PatriotStoreDirect plans to add more items for online order, including tools, automotive service, home goods, top-brand sporting goods, electronics, and toys.

“Look for PatriotStoreDirect and VCS to grow our services this year,” said Lee.

PatriotStoreDirect currently offers hundreds of items through their business lines:

The VCS PatriotStore is also expanding merchandise, offering more apparel for babies and toddler, as well as footwear for men and women. The PatriotStores, which offer essential items in comfortable retail spaces in VA medical centers across the U.S., are also expanding their assortment of value-priced essential apparel, such as T-shirts, jeans, and Henley-style shirts for Veterans. This merchandise will provide more value and convenience for Veterans, especially those domiciled in the medical centers, to purchase comfortable new outfits.