The Veterans Outreach Center in Rochester has reopened Stars & Stripes, The Flag Store for the first time in two years.

On moving day it was all hands on deck to get all the merchandise into the new store located about a half mile from the VOC on South Avenue. The VOC closed Stars and Stripes in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic and shifted sales online.

What You Need To Know

  • Stars & Stripes, The Flag Store is located at 783 South Ave. in Rochester

  • It's open Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 1 to 5 p.m.

  • For more store information, call 585-546-3524

Sales declined and the VOC wanted to return to a retail space to reconnect with the community and provide a future veteran work development program there. All sales benefit the Veterans Outreach Center and all it does for local veterans.

"We are just really excited, and I think it will be a nice way to reconnect with a lot of our business partners as well,” said Laura Heltz, executive director at the VOC. “Having kind of lost that face-to-face contact, it didn't benefit our relationship as much. So we are excited to have that face-to-face element again.”

Stars and Stripes is located at 783 South Ave. in Rochester. It's open on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 1 to 5 p.m. It sells U.S. flags and Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard merchandise.