Niemann Foods, Inc., to be first tenant at West Quincy Port Authority site with $10 million Haymakers facility

WEST QUINCY, Mo. — When the Marion Ralls Regional Port Authority (MRRPA) was created, more than 300 acres at the West Quincy Port Authority site on the south side of U.S. 24 were expected to be used for industrial and multi-modal development.

“Think of what you see going in a barge,” said Maria Kuhns, executive director of MRRPA and the Hannibal Regional Economic Development Council. “It’s usually bulk material, so things like grains, gravel or fertilizer — any sort of aggregate material that is easily brought in and off the river on a conveyor. That’s not to say we haven’t explored the ability to do other materials that could benefit from a rail spur.

“We’ve had a lot of conversations with folks that just want to have a facility and use some property to put in storage and then a transload.”

Kuhns said using the property for retail space wasn’t given any consideration.

“Not until we worked with Niemann’s,” she said.

Niemann Foods, Inc. (NFI) announced Monday it will be constructing a Haymakers convenience store, becoming the first major tenant at the West Quincy Port Authority site. Rich Niemann Jr., CEO and president of NFI, said he believes the store will cost at least $10 million. The 7,000-square foot facility will have a state-of-the-art fueling station and offer expanded fresh food offerings. Construction is set to begin in 2026, with a planned opening in early 2027.

“When Niemann’s approached us, we hadn’t even thought down the path of retail,” Kuhns said. “It was really fun to get to work with them and start thinking about how could this fit in with our vision for what we’re trying to do.”

The port authority site is directly east of a BNSF rail line and west of a 100-year levee. 

Recognized as a public port authority by the state of Missouri, MRRPA has been utilizing state grant match funds to develop infrastructure at the site. It has plans to develop docking for river barge loading and unloading at the site, which also is positioned for the development of a rail spur into the site. Future tenants could access highway, river and rail at one location.

“Shipping rates just continue to go up, and companies that had previously never thought about how they could utilize rail or river are starting to do that,” Kuhns said. “We’re starting to focus more and more on that so it really makes us competitive. I talk to a lot of businesses that, even if they don’t currently have a rail or a barge component, are interested in making sure that’s an option.”

Niemann Foods Inc. has leased a site in West Quincy since 1947, operating a Haymakers convenience store there for about 10 years.

“We’ve developed haymakers as a brand to be maybe even more so beyond what we’re doing today,” said Rich Niemann III, vice president of non-grocery operations for NFI. “It’s going to be an incredible site, probably one of the larger projects we’ve done.”

The store has access to the two bridges that serve Quincy, Ill. — Memorial Bridge and Bayview Bridge. Memorial Bridge is more than 90 years old, and the Illinois Department of Transportation is proposing construction of a new bridge — possible as early as 2029 — that would be aligned with the York Street corridor to the south of the proposed Haymakers site.

“Most of the soybeans are coming from Quincy, and when you think about it from a deliverer standpoint to ADM (on the riverfront), the intensity of those last five miles for all these beans coming from Missouri and getting across the bridge, is pretty great,” Niemann III said. “Let’s face it, the next bridge is still just going to be two lanes. You’re still going have to dump off somewhere in Quincy and fight that traffic, and then the worst part is trying to get back into Missouri.

“As a producer, there’s a tremendous opportunity for those Missouri farmers or Iowa farmers. We see so much of that in our existing Haymakers. A lot of people will stop to dump their agriculture products on (the Missouri) side.”

Kuhns said a feasibility study was done to research how much grain comes out of Northeast Missouri.

“That was a lot of what led to this,” she said. “We work very closely with a lot of the farmer groups and a lot of the key stakeholders in northeast Missouri, and they’re so excited about this because of exactly what Richie is talking about. They want more opportunity on their side of the river to handle deliveries.”

“It’s a lot bigger deal than people would think,” Niemann Jr. said.

“This is just creating more opportunities and continuing to put this area on the map as a destination for goods,” Kuhns said.

Niemann Jr. said he believes the new Haymakers facility will be “complementary” with the existing site at 8455 U.S. 24. 

“We think the traffic is going to be so much greater over there with everything that’s going to happen besides this,” he said. “With the movement of product, there could possibly be distribution centers back on this site. You see a lot of this last-mile distribution that’s needed. Ten years from now, we could look across that field right now, and it could be a lot of concrete, a lot of buildings and a lot of trucks moving.”

Kuhns said the cost of doing business in Missouri is “very affordable.” The Niemanns believe the taxes in Missouri will be approximately two full percentage points cheaper than they are in Illinois.

“West Quincy is not actually a municipality. It’s technically a Taylor address,” Kuhns said. “You don’t have that city sales tax on top of what’s going on. … Another advantage that comes with this is you don’t have a real property tax because (MRRPA owns) the land.”

Kuhns also mentioned the strength of the levee district in West Quincy.

“It is a 100-year levy, and the last time it broke (during the summer of 1993), that was because it was tampered with,” she said. “(The property) is pretty well protected, though you never have a 100 percent guarantee when you’re literally steps from the Mississippi River.”

Asked if the new Haymakers development will affect NFI’s ability to fill existing space at the former County Market at 48^thand Broadway, which has been closed since July 2023, Niemann Jr. said, “No. Zero effect. Not related.”

NFI is an employee-owned company based in Quincy. Founded in 1917, the company employs nearly 6,000 people. NFI operates in seven states with more than 140 stores across various retail banners — Haymakers, Ace Hardware, Niemann’s Supermarkets, Harvest Markets, Pet Supplies Plus and County Markets.

The Marion Ralls Regional Port Authority was established by the Marion and Ralls County Commissioners and approved by the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission in 2020. MRRPA bought 87 acres in West Quincy in 2022 and has a purchase option to buy 300 more acres.

MRRPA administration is housed within the Hannibal Regional Economic Development Council. For more information, contact Kuhns at 573-221-1033 or director@hredc.com.