Old Navy announces new location in old OfficeMax space at Germantown Village Square

Old Navy is returning to Germantown — about eight years after leaving the suburb — landing in the former OfficeMax space at Germantown Village Square.

“At this time, we can share the store in Germantown Village Square Shopping Center is scheduled to open in March 2018,” Dava Huber, spokesperson for Gap Inc., Old Navy’s parent company, said in an email.

Huber’s statement was the first official confirmation of Old Navy landing at 7720 Poplar on the east end of the shopping center. Germantown officials said earlier Monday that they had received no applications for renovations or signage at the location.

However, online documents for renovation of the space shed light on the potential opening. All of the websites refer to the store as Old Navy #4674. The website for LDILine, a source of construction contracts for the southeastern United States, states the project involves 13,840 square feet of renovation and is expected to begin in late November.

The description calls for completion of the renovation by the end of February, 2018.

OfficeMax vacated the space in November, 2015.

“We are excited to have Old Navy return to our market,” Germantown Mayor Mike Palazzolo said after the company confirmed the new store. “From their days in the Shops of Forrest Hill, having this brand back will add more shopping choice for our residents. This location will  give this shopping center quality anchors on either end.”

Old Navy’s move to the shopping center would mean a return by the casual clothes company to the suburb. Old Navy once occupied space in the shopping center at 3075 Village Shops Drive south of Poplar across from Target.

Mellow Mushroom moved into the location.

Germantown Village Square opened in 1973 as an enclosed mall, albeit much smaller than Southland and Raleigh Springs and other such malls of that era. The center was renovated in 1985 with more of an open-air concept, featuring about 200,000 square feet of office and retail space with stores such as Designer Shoe Warehouse, Rack Room Shoes, Holiday Deli and Ham, Petco and TJ Maxx.

Earlier this  year, Boyle Investment sold the property to PEBB Enterprises of Boca Raton, Florida for $29.3 million.

Original Article published by Clay Bailey of The Commercial Appeal