Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Long_Cast]

Soon there must be some discounts in their fishing department.

I won't be missing Army and Navy because of their customer service. One time I went to the customer service desk at the Army and Navy in New Westminster and I was refused a refund on a package of spinners which I purchased at the Army and Navy in Downtown Vancouver with a receipt because the staff said that they didn't sell it! Back in the 90's, Army and Navy didn't use a barcode system at the cashier, so exact item you purchased didn't show up on the receipt, only price of the item and taxes. I was so furious that I didn't shop there for over 15 years after the incident.   

On another note, my Dad took me to Army and Navy in Downtown back in the 80's to get my first fishing license.


 

[Fish Assassin]

You can forget about any deals. Their fishing department has been gutted for years.

[Long_Cast]

That makes me feel even better that they're closing for good.

[halcyonguitars]

Bums me out. That's where I buy just about everything besides food...

[RalphH]

Not that surprising. The New Westminster location has been very sorry looking the last year or more. I asked once if they were phasing the fishing and camping department out and they said no. It has been about the only place local to buy basic tackle.

[arimaBOATER]

Liked this store in the past a lot.
From Coq. we drove to Columbia St ..parked on the ramp and checked out the stores...2 movie theatres
Columbia and Paramount.
There was an Army &  Navy store and then east of it was an Eatons store.
Then Eatons closed and went to Coquitlam Centre mall. Army and Navy then moves into the vacant store where Eatons was. More sq footage.
Have not shopped their for many yrs....being in Richmond.
Gone are so many department stores...Eatons Zellers Target (ha!) Woodwards Sears so on...now Army and Navy ...
( in the idea of closing...Future Shop ..that was a surprise ...x Cargo sometimes got good deals)
Sign of the times.  People buying on line ...

[avid angler]

Liked this store in the past a lot.
From Coq. we drove to Columbia St ..parked on the ramp and checked out the stores...2 movie theatres
Columbia and Paramount.
There was an Army &  Navy store and then east of it was an Eatons store.
Then Eatons closed and went to Coquitlam Centre mall. Army and Navy then moves into the vacant store where Eatons was. More sq footage.
Have not shopped their for many yrs....being in Richmond.
Gone are so many department stores...Eatons Zellers Target (ha!) Woodwards Sears so on...now Army and Navy ...
( in the idea of closing...Future Shop ..that was a surprise ...x Cargo sometimes got good deals)
Sign of the times.  People buying on line ...

I would recommend visiting the paramount now 

[GordJ]

I would recommend visiting the paramount now

Great night out with the wife. But I’d save it for a special occasion.

[blaydRnr]

Back in the day, Army and Navy was the place to go for fishing tackle. Their selection and price were unmatched. Zellers, Woodwards, Steveston Marine, and even Nikkas couldn't compete. I'm talking in the 70's (the time that I got into fishing from watching Red Fisher every Saturday morning at 7 am). Personally, I'm going to miss the downtown location because of nostalgia. My father took me there to buy my very first fishing rod because it was the only place he found affordable while supporting a young family of six.

If it wasn't for that place, I don't think I would have gotten into fishing as seriously as I did, at such a young age. It was also around that time (while fishing the seawalls of Stanley Park) that my siblings and I had the honour of meeting and befriending a young one legged jogger by the name of Terry Fox. It became routine every weekend that he took time to greet us and little did we know that only a year later he would make history.  I don't know why, but every time a historical department store closes, it brings me back to a moment of my life where an event affected me profoundly.

[skaha]

A&N did have a great selection of gear unmatched by others...in the 70's.  That is when they purchased from several local manufacturers along with imported gear from Japan. Vancouver area had many local suppliers at the time and built gear for the area rather than having the retailer purchase junk and marketing it to the uninformed.  I don't know what employee pay and work hrs were but hope they can find other work...it's going to be tuff no doubt.

[redside1]

This has been planned for a year or more. Covid has been the perfect excuse.

[Wiseguy]

Some great memories there at the New West store. My Dad would take me when I was a little kid. It was the go to place for fishing tackle back in the day. I grew up buying most of my fishing gear there. Fond memories. Sad news to see it go.

[Silver]

The DTES store will be missed...

Many memories from as early as mid eighties, but mostly around the early 90's for me.

My Edgemont buddy got me into the river action, and I can still vision the days of going to A&N for those bulk packs of Eagle Claw trebles, pencil lead, and that blue 40lb mono that came in a dispenser puck!

The stories I could tell...

I was very Macgyverish…I even fashioned a belt mounted custom gear holder from the black plastic bait container that I had no idea what it was used for at that time.

[JackFunk]

I worked the downtown store for a few years, I was one they hired to help restore it around 2005 or so, they had wanted to rebuild it back to its former glory. But the area, man, the stories I could tell you of the behaviour down there. Absolutely disgusting at times.

And as a consequence, nobody wanted to drive down and park the truck and come in when dealing with the very real threat of vehicle break-in, aggressive panhandlers, bodily fluids, and worse. It was sad to see.

I will always miss George my elderly co-worker, a gentlemen of the old order, who was a walking encyclopedia of BC fishing knowledge, he was one of the kindest and nicest persons I have had the privilege of knowing and calling a friend. And to my other co-workers, they know who they are, some post here, we had some fun times eh? Shoe sales were nuts!

And I really enjoyed meeting all of you folks, the local fishing community, swapping stories, hearing about great trips. I really enjoyed seeing newbies come in, get all set up, then come back later with tales of success. I also learned a lot from those who were more experienced and took some time to share their knowledge, thanks for that!

Farewell A&N!

[chris gadsden]

I bought my first Avon reel at the West Hastings store in the seventies, that I still use. I believe I paid $17 for it. Used to buy shotgun shells there too, by the case I think Imperials and Canuck Heavy Load worked out around $3 a box.

When there we always had to look around the meat store next door to it, forget the name. I used to visit Harkley & Hayward store behind Army and Navy

Good memories now long gone.