DeKALB – With construction ongoing for the new Old Navy location in DeKalb, city officials say they anticipate the store to open later this month.

As of this week, the storefront for the Old Navy within the Oakland Place shopping center is installed.

Scott Zak, management analyst for the City of DeKalb, wrote in a Thursday email the City has been told the opening date for the new Old Navy store still will be around April 21.

“But a firm date has not been received yet,” Zak said.

DeKalb City Manager Bill Nicklas said Wednesday city staff were scheduled to check on the status of the new shop on Thursday. As of Thursday, Nicklas wrote in a Thursday email, the estimated April 21 opening date is “the best we have.”

“I checked with the chief building inspector and the City will issue the occupancy certificate [Friday],” Nicklas wrote in a Thursday email. “It is up to the vendor then to determine the timing of the opening, which will follow the stocking of the store, etc. No hard information about that as yet.”

City officials previously confirmed Mid-America Management Corporation delayed the opening of any new stores, including the new Old Navy location, until this year because of the pandemic. The opening was initially anticipated to happen August or September 2020 but later was scheduled for sometime this spring.

The update comes after an announcement came about a year ago that Old Navy was returning to DeKalb eight years after leaving former location in the city. It will now set up shop at the former Barnes & Noble site at 2439 Sycamore Road in the Oakland Place shopping center.

The former Barnes & Noble had closed in 2014 and has since been temporary Halloween stores. The development plan includes the space being divided into two separate spaces to lease, with Old Navy using 12,500 square feet of it for their store and Mid-America looking to lease the remaining 7,000 square feet to another retailer.

Old Navy’s former DeKalb location was between Michael’s and T.J. Maxx. The store left the Oakland Place shopping center location in February 2012 after being there for a decade.

The former site was divided into two spaces and now houses Five Below and DSW.

The new store is expected to create more than 40 new jobs, according to city officials.