GALESBURG — After a short hiatus, Galesburg soon will have a dedicated shoe store.

Shoe Sensation will replace the departed Shoe Carnival at 2474 Veterans Drive in early April. The grand opening weekend is April 8-10, but shoe seekers could find the store debut earlier with a soft opening.

If the name Shoe Sensation sounds familiar, there was a store formerly located in Sandburg Mall. However, the company elected not to renew its lease in March 2010.

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The chain has 210 stores in 22 states across the country. Headquartered in Jeffersonville, Indiana, Shoe Sensation opened its first store in 1984.

"Galesburg was a town we wanted to get back into," said Theresa Borgen, market president for Shoe Sensation. "We made a conscious decision a while ago when malls started going downhill that we would try to get out of the fleet of malls we were in.

"So when Shoe Carnival decided not to renew its lease, that was an easy decision for us to make, to go back into Galesburg. "We want to be your local shoe store at a valued price for the entire family."

National brands such as Skechers, Clarks, Crocs and the popular Hey Dude will be offered at Shoe Sensation. A wide range of athletic shoes – from Under Armour, New Balance, Adidas, Asics, Puma and others, as well as the latest lifestyle brands like Converse and Vans – are also available at Shoe Sensation.

"It won't be much different than what you saw at Shoe Carnival," Borgen said. "We have an expanded kids' selection and that kind of sets us apart from a Shoe Carnival or Shoe Dept.

"There will be a few visible changes. We're going to knock out an office up front and we're going to put carpet down in the children's area. It'll look different but the set up will pretty much be the same with all stock on the floor."

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Market Sales Manager Brandy Vestal said the Galesburg Shoe Sensation will be be open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday.

Shoe Carnival announced in September 2016 it would be opening a store next to Kohl’s and Pet Supplies Plus in the Seminary Square retail development. It joins the Shoe Dept., also formerly located in the Seminary Square center, as the second Galesburg shoe store to close in the last year.

This article originally appeared on Galesburg Register-Mail: Shoe Sensation to fill shoe store void in Galesburg, Illinois