Old Navy pushes back opening of Kona store

Old Navy has delayed the opening of its second store on the Big Island to early next year.

The store at the Kona Commons is now slated to open in February, a spokeswoman said. Hiring will begin at the start of the new year.

The Kailua-Kona location will be Old Navy’s fifth store in Hawaii. The retailer opened a 15,600-square-foot store at the Prince Kuhio Plaza in January 2016. There are two locations on Oahu and one on Maui.

The Old Navy store will be among a handful of stores to occupy the former site of the Sports Authority. The 40,000-square-foot space has sat vacant since 2016 until work to reconfigure the area into leasable spaces commenced last winter.

A spokesperson for Kona Commons confirmed two additional tenants for the space: Island Naturals and Verizon. Verizon is slated to open its store in December while Island Naturals is expected to open next summer.

Kona Commons opened in fall 2008. It comprises the 160,000-square-foot Target store, which opened in 2009, and the 130,000-square-foot first phase kitty-cornered and bound by Makala Boulevard and Queen Kaahumanu Highway.