I live across the street from an old department store. It is called The Army & Navy. There are just six branches in BC and Alberta, and I like having one so close. They have an interesting mixture of cheap and good-quality items. Even over the years we've lived in New Westminster, the store has changed a lot. Whereas they used to have an extensive hardware section, now there are mainly dollar-store-type, cheap, made-in-China tools. They have some food items on the first of three floors. That floor also has a large collection of fishing and camping equipment. The clothes selection is varied with a fairly good collection of work pants and shoes. There's a lot of cheap crap as well. A huge, annual women's shoe sale brings in customers from all over. The top floor carries linens and housewares.
Mostly, I appreciate the present building. (I have seen historic photographs when The Army & Navy Department Store was in the original building further along Columbia Street and I do not know which year it moved into the present digs.) The current place, though, is a time capsule of post-WW2 design. I am not originally from the area, but I believe it was built as an Eaton's, which itself is a chain that's gone defunct since we arrived in Canada. The half-century-plus old building on Columbia Street hasn't seen much in the way of modernization. In fact, it looks downright derelict, especially from the rear. There are original scruffy tiles on the floor, many of which don't match. The escalators are original equipment showing how things used to be made to last. It just oozes a feeling of retail from a long-gone era.
