New York, NY – Walmart and one of its leading critics are cooking up a deal that could boost the Hunts Point produce market and dampen opposition to the retailer’s arrival here.
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City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Walmart officials are in talks that could lead to the retailer promising to buy some of its produce from the Hunts Point Terminal produce market if Walmart were to open stores in the city.
The prospect of a contract with Walmart would make it more attractive for the market and its 47 owner-operators to stay in the city long-term. The 43-year-old facility needs $320 million worth of renovations. Hunts Point owners had threatened to move to New Jersey but earlier this month inked a three-year lease extension with the city.
The council speaker, who has been a vocal detractor of Walmart, has nevertheless engaged in a dialogue with the retailer about its desire to open stores in the city. Food policy, a major but often overlooked part of Ms. Quinn’s agenda—and a growing focus of Walmart’s—is a logical area for compromise.
“Walmart, by its own admission, isn’t interested in a single supermarket in New York; they’re interested in growing into a much bigger part of the market,” Ms. Quinn told Crain’s. “If one store becomes eight stores becomes whatever number, then you have the risk of having a significant portion of the [city’s] food not going through Hunts Point. That could destabilize the market in a way that could have enormous job impacts and enormous food system impacts.”