Old Navy set to open first Manatee County store in this shopping center
Manatee County’s first Old Navy Outlet store is scheduled to open Saturday in Ellenton.
Located on the east side of Ellenton Premium Outlets, the retailer will occupy a 10,000-square-foot space next to the New Balance Factory Store at 5135 Factory Shops Blvd.
Old Navy is opening its doors at 10 a.m. for a grand opening ceremony. The store specializes in “affordable clothing for the entire family,” according to a news release.
Daily store hours have not been announced yet.
The new store is one of six planned store openings for the brand in 2025, the news release said.
Before Saturday’s opening, the nearest Old Navy stores for Manatee County residents were located in Sarasota, St. Petersburg and Tampa.
The Sarasota location is at 117 North Cattlemen Road in the University Town Center.
A little Old Navy history
It’s the third store under the Gap Inc. banner for Ellenton Premium Outlets. The company owns the Athleta, Banana Republic and Old Navy brands. Gap and Banana Republic also have stores at the outlet mall.
The first Old Navy store opened in 1994 in Colma, a small town located just south of San Francisco, California. It was based on the Gap Warehouse and the name was inspired by a Paris bar, according to company history.
Don and Doris Fisher opened the first Gap store in San Francisco in 1969. That first store only sold men’s Levi’s jeans and record tapes. Gap purchased Banana Republic in 1983, launched Old Navy in 1994 and acquired Athleta, a women’s activewear catalog company, in 2008.
Other changes at the Ellenton Premium Outlet
The Old Navy opening isn’t the only potential change for the property. In February, Gulf Coast Factory Shops Limited Partnership filed paperwork with Manatee County Development Services to add two extended-stay hotels on the 68-acre site.
They include a 124-room Hilton LivSmart Studios hotel and a 122-room WoodSpring Suites hotel on an existing east parking lot.
For more information on Old Navy’s new store, www.PremiumOutlets.com.
