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Posted Jul 9, 2025, 6:12 AM
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Registered User
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Join Date: Dec 2019
Location: Albuquerque, NM
Posts: 1,345
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The city broke ground yesterday for the new International District Market on San Mateo Boulevard just south of Kathryn Avenue. It will also be adjacent to the Albuquerque Community Safety Department headquarters and the existing food truck park that I think will be incorporated into and form the base of the new market.
The project came about as part of Councilor Nichole Rogers' efforts to allow the community to prioritize and pick which projects they'd like to see funded through her discretionary funds for her district as a city councilor. Residents want the market to be similar to the Downtown Growers Market and bring fresh and healthy food to the area that has become somewhat of a food desert due to the closing of the Walmart further up San Mateo a couple of years ago.
https://www.kob.com/news/top-news/ne...onal-district/
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — For years, residents in Albuquerque’s International District have lived miles from the nearest grocery store, making the community a “food desert.”
But that will soon change with the opening of a new fresh food market, a small step with a big impact.
“There’s going to be a blend of things that are available here,” Mayor Tim Keller said. “From food that’s ready to eat, sort of in the farmer’s market style of you can get your name the food item and have lunch with your family in a safe place.”
This part of the city is what is known as a food desert. It means folks live more than half a mile away from a grocery store.
And in the International District, closed storefronts like the former Walmart Supercenter off Central are common sights.
Not only does District 6 meet the criteria for a food desert, but for many of the people who live there their main form of transportation is walking.
“So, if you can’t, if you don’t have a car, (you’re walking) half a mile carrying a bunch of groceries,” said Sarah Aragon-McGlothin, Roadrunner Food Bank’s director of programs. “It’s quite a lot. Even in a rural area, it’s still a long distance. Walking is great, it’s good for your health — we should walk more — but when that’s your only choice, you’re also sacrificing time.”
Now, thanks to input from District 6 residents, city leaders are making sure they have access to fresh fruits, vegetables and hope.
The market is set to open in spring 2026. It will also serve as a safe public place for people to gather, what officials said they hope will be the first sign of a broader recovery for a community that’s been hungry for change.
“This is part one,” said city councilor Nichole Rogers of District 6. “Part two is actually doing a food justice project we’re going to launch in September that will begin to connect all the growers, the growing spaces the city already has and has been investing in a lot of growing spaces in our district.”
As for the Walmart Supercenter near Central and San Mateo that has been closed since 2023, Keller was asked about the future of the huge, abandoned space. He said the city has tried to purchase the property, but Walmart is holding onto the lease.
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https://www.krqe.com/news/albuquerqu...onal-district/
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Struggling with closing grocery stores, a southeast Albuquerque neighborhood is now laying the foundation for something they hope can help. Neighbors voted to build a space for a new Growers Market. They hope the project will help fill the gaps they’ve seen grow with big box stores like Walmart and Walgreens closing shop.
It was a big moment on Monday in the International District as neighbors and city leaders celebrated what’s to come at San Mateo and Kathryn. “We’ve designed this space so it’ll incorporate food trucks, it will have a place for gathering for folks to come and hang out, it’ll be safe, and more importantly,y it will be for the community,” said Chris Sanchez, Deputy Director for the Department of Municipal Development, CABQ.
The lot is the future site of a long-sought growers market in southeast Albuquerque. Councilor Nichole Rogers is spending $1.5 million of her district’s funding for the project. In a first-of-its-kind budgeting experiment, Rogers let people in her district vote to pick the project. “We stand on the shoulders of generations of folks that wanted this to happen,” said Nichole Rogers, City Councilor for District 6.
Organizers hope the market will host local farmers, artists, and other vendors along with other community events. The project will also bring a new sidewalk mural and shipping containers, where the community’s unhoused can safely store their belongings.
Soon, the entire lot will have public bathrooms and even water fountains. Parkland Hills Neighborhood Association President Janet Simon says this Growers Market is exactly what her community needs. “The stuff that we all need you know food, medicine, healthcare all of those have declined unfortunately overtime here…Holding our breath to see you know over again if there is a snowball effect,” said Janet Simon, President of Parkland Hills Neighborhood Association.
With Monday’s groundbreaking, Councilor Rogers said she’s hoping to see the project finished and the market officially open in the spring. Community members picked this project through the very first “participatory budgeting” initiative ever done in Albuquerque city government. Councilor Rogers said she’s hoping to get another community vote on future projects when more funding comes up in 2027.
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If you'll notice in the first story by KOB-TV above, the mayor provided an update about the efforts to acquire the former Walmart property. He says that it looks like Walmart is trying to hold onto the property.
I read a story recently by USA Today about Walmart testing in a few markets a new format whereby they have stores/warehouses that aren't open to the public but are used to fulfill online and delivery orders. I wonder whether they might try that here in Albuquerque using this former Supercenter structure. It obviously wouldn't be as good as having it open to the public and functioning as a store again, but it would certainly be a heck of a lot better than having it sit abandoned and empty, in the absence of them selling it for redevelopment. It would also at least provide jobs in this area.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money...s/84385813007/
Quote:
Walmart is testing some new stores, but you won't be able to shop there.
These new "dark stores" are being tested as a better way to fulfill online orders and are not open to the public. Inside, the stores – the first of which opened recently in Dallas – resemble a typical Walmart store. However, there's no signage, as customers cannot come in, a person knowledgeable about the situation but not authorized to speak publicly told USA TODAY.
The stores do not have Walmart signage, but inside the store has many of the most popular products ordered online by customers, as a way to speed up online order fulfillment, the person told USA TODAY.
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