Army & Navy preps final sale
Hundreds of thousands of items on discount as chain shuts down
Thursday at 10 a.m., Army & Navy will fling its doors open for the last sale in its 101-year history.
Close to a million items will be blown out during the sale, which is being held at A&N stores in New Westminster and Calgary, but not the downtown Vancouver store.
“Based on a percentage, you’re probably looking at about 570,000 or 580,000 (items) in B.C.,” said Debbie Elliott, Army & Navy’s director of operations.
“The most coveted (merchandise), for sure, is fishing. It has the best selection, the best depth and will make the most noise.”
Fishing equipment will be 25 per cent off, as is another A&N staple, camping equipment.
But there are items being sold at a bigger discount.
“In New West alone, we’re sitting with about 4,000 units of ladies footwear, which is 40 per cent off,” said Elliott.
“After that we’d be looking at a huge array of men’s work wear, safety work boots and all the various men’s clothing that comes with it, whether it’s a pair of Levi denim or a $3.99 tank top. All of that is 20 per cent off.”
In the past, Army & Navy’s sales have reeled in the masses, resulting in scenes of shoppers jammed into the aisles like sardines.
But that won’t be happening in the middle of a COVID pandemic.
Army & Navy will be monitoring customers to make sure everyone is practising social distancing.
“The nice thing about New West,” Elliott said of the New Westminster store, “is it’s a rectangle, which allows for social distancing without even trying.”
“You could have a zillion people in this building because it’s so big (80,000 sq. ft), but we have a capacity. If you have a small pocket with 50 plus people in an area, that’s what you want to reduce and eliminate.
“We’re going to have someone on each door, and our parking lot is going to have stanchions throughout it that make it safe and obvious as to where people should be.
“At our cash counters, we’ve got the acrylic placed in front of all the registers, and we’ve got queues where people can wait their turn. We have directional arrows, and lots of signage.”
All four floors of the A&N store at 502 Columbia St. will be open during the sale, staffed by 20-plus company veterans.
“We have a lot of managers from the stores (that have closed) that have stepped up to help out,” said Elliott.
“We have some of the coveted fishing gurus with the knowledge that they have, that only they have. A lot of heart and soul is working in the store, I can tell you that.”
She can only guess how long the sale will last.
“If you asked me that without
COVID I could answer it, but with COVID it’s hard to predict,” she said.
“My thoughts are between six and eight weeks, if not quicker. But I feel comfortable with six to eight weeks. (Normally) you could blow out of this stuff in three weeks, without COVID.”
Elliott has been working for Army & Navy for 19 years.
Pre-COVID, she had no inkling the store was about to close — she was too busy working on the spring program with owner Jacqui Cohen.
The store closed March 18 because of the COVID crisis and, on May 14, Cohen announced it wouldn’t be reopening. There were five Army & Navy stores in the chain, including B.C. stores in Vancouver, New Westminster and Langley.
“It is a crushing blow,” said Elliott. “I opened the Langley store, which was super exciting, it was a beautiful store. And about three weeks ago I closed it, turned the lights out. It was a very sad day.”