The annual Army & Navy shoe sale is back again beginning April 22nd and running through May 3.

Now, you’re probably wondering what time the doors open so you can crash the gates and get all the best deals – but not so fast.  If you want to save some of your time, and sanity, it pays to be aware of a few things:

• Army & Navy always has good deals on shoes.  It’s kind of their thing, being Canada’s original discount store and all.
• Most of the shoes you’ll find at the sale are not actually discounted from what Army & Navy would normally sell them for.  They’re discounted from what other retailers might sell them for. If you go to A&N two weeks after the sale, you’ll see that the same shoes are still the same price.
• Boxes of shoes are brought out on a continual basis – so the selection on the sales floor is totally unpredictable. Availability of styles and sizes could be completely different from hour to hour.
• The sale is an absolute shit-show. If you manage to elbow your way through the masses after spying an amazing looking shoe across the floor (because that’s where most of them will be piled up), you’ll be lucky if you manage to find that shoe’s partner.  And once you’ve selected the shoes you want to buy, be prepared to stand in line for another 30 minutes to pay.

You might try visiting A&N a couple of days prior to the 22nd, knowing that most of the shoes on sale are priced between $20-40.  You might just find some shoes within that price range before the ’sale’ even starts, and save yourself the hassle.  Unless you’re incredibly brave and have a lot of time on your hands, my personal suggestion would be to go on Tuesday, April 28th in the morning (avoid the lunch hours).  Avoid the initial sale panic which will last through the weekend, and give the staff a day to recover and re-stock.

All warnings aside, I did get a few pairs of shoes last year that I still wear often, so I will definitely be heading back to see what’s available this year!