Drive-Thru Car Wash to Be Built at Nordic Nursery Location in Thousand Oaks

Last night the City of Thousand Oaks Planning Commission approved an application for a new drive-thru car wash to be built at the current home of Nordic Nursery, 1312 Newbury Road.

The owner of Nordic Nursery has decided to sell the .8 acre property after 38 years in business in the Conejo Valley. 

The proposed car wash facility will have two wash tracks accessed by a single driveway, with a maximum of four employees.  There will be a total of six parking spaces and 11 service spaces for customers to vacuum their vehicles after their cars are washed. Proposed hours of the car wash are 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.

Surrounding the property is an auto care facility on the east (currently Big Brand Tire & Service and AAMCO Transmissions), The Sleep Shoppe retail store on the west, a mobile home park to the southeast and the La Quinta Inn & Suites to the south. The 101 freeway is directly across from the facility on the north.

Although many are saddened by Nordic Nursery retiring from the City of Thousand Oaks, the Planning Commission and City Staff made sure to address concerns of water usage and oak trees.

Two oak trees on the west side of the site, between the car wash building and The Sleep Shoppe, will be transplanted to a new home on City-owned open space or a park. The remaining oak trees on the property are not anticipated to be impacted by the business.

Lastly, the water at the car wash is anticipated to be 85 to 90% recycled, resulting in less usage than the nursery currently uses.

Marshalls Moving from Janss Marketplace to Conejo Valley Plaza in Thousand Oaks on May 11th

The former Sport Chalet on Moorpark Road several weeks ago as it goes through transformations to become the new home of Marshalls. Kind of a sad sight, isn't it.

The former home of Sport Chalet at 1350 North Moorpark Road in Thousand Oaks, in the Conejo Valley Plaza, will become the new home of Marshalls (currently located in the Janss Marketplace).

Marshalls indicates the grand opening celebration will take place from 8am to 10pm on Thursday, May 11th. For updates, visit www.marshallsonline.com/store-finder/158.

Other local area Marshalls stores in Simi Valley and Oxnard. There are over 975 Marshalls stores in the U.S. Marshalls is named after Alfred Marshall, who gathered other investors to open a self-service department store in Beverly, Massachusetts offering "Brand Names For Less" in 1956. TJX, the parent company of T.J. Maxx, purchased Marshalls in 1995 and operate as sister stores. And there you have it.

Opening of "Capability Center" in Tampa Will Lead to Loss of Up to 494 Amgen Jobs in Thousand Oaks

Last Month, the Tampa Hillsborough Economic Develop Corporation announced that Amgen will be opening a "Capability Center" in Tampa in October 2017, employing 450 people by the end of 2018.  The 136,000 sq. ft. facility "will support a variety of functions with the delivery of business-enabling services including operational, analytical, staff support and business support activities."

What's good news for Tampa is bad news for Thousand Oaks. On Tuesday, April 11th, Amgen issued a WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) Act notice stating that up to 494 Amgen Thousand Oaks employees will lose their jobs as a result.

Amgen will continue maintaining its corporate headquarters here in Thousand Oaks, with about 5,125 employees. This is down from 6,000 in July 2014 and 7,500 in 2006 (according to this Pacific Coast Business Times article).

In addition to 450 employees in Tampa, Amgen will be adding some jobs to existing sites in San Francisco and Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Local employee terminations will begin on June 16, 2017. www.amgen.com

Looking for a local job? LINKS TO OVER 300 LOCAL AREA EMPLOYERS

More on Amgen 2016 hiring announcements at THIS LINK.

Public Hearing To Be Announced for Construction of Car Wash Facility at Nordic Nursery Location in Newbury Park

Sarah R. pointed out via the CVG Facebook Page this weekend that there's a City of Thousand Oaks Public Hearing sign in front of Nordic Nursery, 1313 Newbury Road in Newbury Park. 

The sign announces a TBA public hearing on a proposed application to allow encroachment within the protected zones of on-site oak trees and the removal of two off-site oak trees in conjunction with the construction of a drive-thru car wash facility.

Well that's a bummer. Nordic Nursery has operated in the Conejo Valley since 1979. www.nordicnursery.com