The Old Navy store in the Cobb Corners shopping center in Rocky Mount is closing next month.

The store’s last day of business will be Jan. 26.

“We are constantly evaluating our store fleet to ensure we have the right stores in the right locations to best serve our customers, and unfortunately at times, it comes with the decision to close a store,” Old Navy spokeswoman Sarah Andrus said in an emailed statement. “It is always difficult with a number of factors that impact the decision – including our existing store base, market demographics and sales potential of a particular market. We are making every effort to help employees find positions at nearby stores and hope our customers will continue to shop with us at nearby stores or online.”

A major sale is scheduled at the store after Christmas, she said.

“We will have an after-Christmas sale in all our stores, including Rocky Mount, with product up to 75 percent off the original price,” Andrus said.

Amanda White, a regular shopper in the store, said she is disappointed to learn it is closing. White said the store offers stylish, good-quality clothing at reasonable prices. She said she would not likely be making trips to the Old Navy stores in Greenville or Raleigh.

She often shopped for clothes at the Rocky Mount Old Navy for her children, who are 7, 4 and 2 years old.

“It was so nice having the store here,” she said. “Every time I went in there it seemed busy.”

The store has 62 employees, four of whom are full-time, a manager said Wednesday morning.

She said employees were offered the option of transferring to the Old Navy store in Greenville or Raleigh, or the Gap store in Smithfield.

Old Navy is an American clothing brand as well as a chain of stores owned by Gap Inc., with corporate operations in San Francisco.

Alan Matthews, director of business recruitment Rocky Mount Area Chamber of Commerce, said the closing of the Rocky Mount store might be linked to the Gap chain downsizing.

News reports said that Gap plans to close 250 stores by the end of 2013.

“It’s more of a chain reduction, positioning their company for more profitable years ahead,” Matthews said.

Matthews said the good news is that retailers recently seem more inclined to sign leases for larger spaces.

“I like to look (at the Old Navy closing) as an opportunity to bring in a new and different retailer,” Matthew said.