Staff Photo by John Rawlston Office Depot will move from Brainerd Village to Eastgate Town Center when renovations are complete at the former Goody's location, pictured on Wednesday.

Don Key watched the construction taking place at Eastgate Town Center eagerly awaiting its mid- to late-summer completion.

Mr. Key is the general manager of Office Depot, which is currently located at 5768 Brainerd Road in Brainerd Village, but will soon move two blocks up the road into the newly renovated space that once held Goody’s department store.

“We’ve been in that store for 20 years, and we have an opportunity to get a new, updated store,” he said. “The new store will allow us to better service our customers.”

Paul Mallchok, manager and marketing director for Eastgate Town Center, said the shopping center is funding the more than $1 million renovation to prepare the 20,000-square-foot space for Office depot.

“Eastgate management is thrilled with Office depot’s decision to relocate here,” he said. “The success of the company is something we hope to share in because it will bring more retail opportunities to Eastgate.”

Officials said Office Depot should be in its new home by late summer.

BlueCross BlueShield, which also occupies space at Eastgate, will be moved into the $299 million campus on Cameron Hill by June 30, which officials said will create additional opportunities at Eastgate.

Mr. Mallchok said that there will then be more than 200,000 square feet of space available in the 760,000-square-foot facility.

“(Eastgate) is revitalizing the heart of Brainerd and is renewing its commitment to Chattanooga and the Brainerd area,” Mr. Mallchok said.

Chanda Strickland, Eastgate leasing manager, said she is excited about Office Depot’s decision to locate in the former Goody’s site.

“We look forward to getting them in the space as soon as possible,” Ms. Strickland said.

The space became vacant last year after Goody’s closed 69 stores in a bankruptcy reorganization plan that also shuttered Goody’s stores at Gunbarrel Pointe on Gunbarrel Road and Oak Park Town Center on Highway 153.

Wolford Development Inc. has announced that Famous Labels, a Las Vegas-based retailer, will move into the 30,000-square-foot space vacated by Goody’s at Oak Park.

The former Goody’s on Gunbarrel is slated to become the home of Earth Fare, an organic grocery, when that firm enters the market.

Brainerd Village, where Office Depot is vacating, is managed by Robbins Properties out of Nashville.

Mark Robbins, principal for the property management firm, said they have not found a tenant to replace Office Depot, which has held that space for about 20 years. Space vacated by Sports Authority also remains vacant.

Mr. Robbins said the economy is taking its toll on retailers.

“The retail environment has changed over the past few years,” he said.

While about a quarter of the Eastgate Town Center space remains vacant, Ms. Strickland said it has not been difficult finding tenants.

“It has not been that much of a challenge because we are a mixed-use facility,” she said. “That’s fortunate for us. We haven’t struggled as much as some retail has.”

Much of the Eastgate occupancy is offices, officials said.

Mr. Mallchok said officials already are working with several potential tenants about the space being vacated by BlueCross BlueShield, but he declined to say who.