COVINGTON, Ga. — Roses is expected to open within the next two months in the former K-Mart building located off Turner Lake Road.

The city of Covington first announced the retail store would be locating to Newton County in September 2020 and originally anticipated its opening in November, ending a nearly two-year vacancy for the building.

Property owner Bhushan Khanna said the delay was due to the pandemic. 

Though the construction had been completed for a while, the site could not be powered because the delivery of transformers were delayed by several months. Khanna said the manufacturer cited COVID-19 as the scapegoat.

Khanna said a final inspection was completed Feb. 23 and a letter of completion for the property was received from the city March 8. 

Khanna called the city's economic development team a great group to work with and hoped to help bring more developments to the city in the future.

Roses, which will be 37,000 square feet, will sell food, clothing, home furnishings and electronics. There are currently more than 20 Georgia locations. Joining Roses will be NexGen storage, home to 547 climate-controlled storage units. 

Both businesses are expected to open by mid-March or April, according to Covington Economic Development Director William Smith.