Virtual Commissary shuts down indefinitely - Military News | News From Afghanistan, Iraq And Around The World - Military Times

Virtual Commissary shuts down indefinitely

Midnight on Tuesday, Eastern Standard Time, is the deadline to order gift baskets through the Virtual Commissary.

The company that handles the orders, Stringer LLC, notified Defense Commissary Agency officials on Aug. 31 that it will no longer supply the Virtual Commissary as it undergoes a business reorganization.

DeCA spokesman Kevin Robinson said the agency has been assured that Stringer will be able to fulfill orders placed through today.

The Temecula, Calif., company is a wholesale gift basket company that specializes in supplying gifts and e-commerce systems for its business clients.

“We are not giving up on Virtual Commissary,” Gordon Jones, DeCA’s chief of Internet sales and transportation, said in a statement announcing the halt.

Jones said DeCA officials are reviewing their options with other vendors.

There is no timeline for the restart of the virtual store, said Robinson, who added that officials are meeting with contracting officials to determine the next step to begin the process to select another supplier.

“Ideally, gift baskets will be available for sale as soon as possible, but at present there is no way of determining how soon it will happen or if it will happen in time for the holidays,” Robinson said.

Whether the stock assortment in the virtual store will expand beyond gift baskets will depend on the supplier selected, he said.

The virtual store opened for business in October 2005, offering authorized commissary shoppers an online selection of 37 gift baskets containing products available on shelves of actual brick-and-mortar commissaries. The baskets were geared toward gifts and special occasions, with assortments of crackers, canned cheeses, cookies, candies, beverages and coffee packs.

Over time, the stock assortment grew to 100 items, expanding to health and beauty aids.

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