NATIONAL RETAILER PICKS CENTRAL VALLEY TOWN FOR NORCAL WAREHOUSE
Car parts retailer AutoZone is the latest company to secure a distribution home in the Central Valley. The Tennessee-based company with more than 6,000 stores in the U.S. — 640 in California — announced Thursday afternoon its plans to build a $150 million distribution center in the Madera County town of Chowchilla. Construction would begin this coming summer with a targeted opening in 2024.
The distribution center would create at least 280 news jobs, according to an Auto Zone news release. It would occupy in phases 750,000 square feet of warehouse space in the Chowchilla Industrial Park with close access to Highway 99. Referred to as “Project Sunset” by city planners, the distribution center has been about a year and a half in the making, said Bobby Kahn, executive director of the Madera County Economic Development Commission.
The Auto Zone announcement was actually first made at the State of the County Luncheon in Madera hosted by the EDC Thursday afternoon. “There’s no better way to close an economic development event than with a major project announcement,” Kahn said. “The timing was remarkable.”