Old Navy is located off of 24th Avenue in Emporia Pavilions next to Five Below.
Old Navy will officially open to the public on Wednesday Oct. 2 after a summer of construction and long-anticipated arrival. A new addition to Emporia Pavilions, the store will have its grand opening ribbon cutting ceremony on Oct. 5.
General Manager Kurston Buser hopes to have the store opened and ready for customers by noon on Wednesday. Employees have worked hard this past week putting the finishing touches on the store.
“I believe our first truck came on the 24th, so we’ve been going at it for a week or so,” Buser said. “We actually just got (Sunday) all of our mens shipment so we’re getting all the final touches put in today.”
The store’s grand opening on Saturday will offer coffee and donuts to customers, have sidewalk chalk and potentially include face painting or tattoos and donated snacks from Hostess. Buser says they are still working out the logistics of the grand opening’s activities and nothing is set in stone, but she’s excited for the community to see what the store has to offer, whether it be during the soft opening or the grand opening.
“I’m just excited for everyone, you know, (to get) all of the denim from us because we have a great selection of all of our OG denim and then we have our straight and our bootcut. Just (for it) to be accessible to the community because I know you guys don’t really have that just yet, so that’s really exciting,” said Buser.
Buser is also excited for Emporia residents to finally get to try on clothing in store rather than resort to ordering it online.
“(That) is really cool for us,” she said.
The store will also make a charitable donation to Bloom House Youth Services, a local center which offers shelter and services to youth in need. Buser says every Old Navy store in the district has donated.
“For every store in our district, we’ve had them come bring in ready-to-go snacks or like any hygiene products,” she said. “We’re still taking donations of that stuff, but we still plan to give them a charitable donation as well on our ribbon cutting day.”
All of Old Navy’s fall items and the full effects will be available starting Wednesday, including selections in womens, mens and kids.
“You know if you’re looking for the perfect sweater or any accessories, we’re going to have all those products there that day,” said Buser.