Tractor Supply Company (also known as TSCO or TSC), founded in 1938, is an American

retail chain A chain store or retail chain is a retail outlet in which several locations share a brand, central management and standardized business practices. They have come to dominate the retail and dining markets and many service categories, in many pa ...

of stores that sells products for

home improvement The concept of home improvement, home renovation, or remodeling is the process of renovating or making additions to one's home. Home improvement can consist of projects that upgrade an existing home interior (such as electrical and plumbing), ...

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

, lawn and

garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate both ...

maintenance,

livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animals ...

equine Equinae is a subfamily of the family Equidae, which have lived worldwide (except Indonesia and Australia) from the Hemingfordian stage of the Early Miocene (16 million years ago) onwards. They are thought to be a monophyletic grouping.B. J. MacFa ...

and pet care for recreational farmers and ranchers, pet owners, and landowners. The company has 2,000 stores and is headquartered in

Brentwood, Tennessee Brentwood is a city in Williamson County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 45,373 as of the 2020 United States census.NASDAQ The Nasdaq Stock Market () (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations Stock Market) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the US by volume, and ranked second ...

under the ticker symbol TSCO and is a

Fortune 500 The ''Fortune'' 500 is an annual list compiled and published by ''Fortune'' magazine that ranks 500 of the largest United States corporations by total revenue for their respective fiscal years. The list includes publicly held companies, along ...

company.

History

1938–1998

Charles Schmidt founded Tractor Supply Company in Chicago in 1938 as a mail-order catalog that sold

tractor A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or construction. Most common ...

parts to working farms. The first retail store was founded in 1939 in

Minot, North Dakota Minot ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Ward County, North Dakota, United States, in the state's north-central region. It is most widely known for the Air Force base approximately north of the city. With a population of 48,377 at the 20 ...

. From 1941 to 1946, the company opened stores in

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

and

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

. On January 14, 1959, Tractor Supply became publicly traded on the Over-The-Counter Market and reached $10 million in sales. The company was later traded on the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed c ...

. In 1967, TSC opened its first international stores in Canada. Two years later, Schmidt sold his controlling interest in the company to National Industries. This and other factors, such as changing executive leadership and adding inventory that strayed from its traditional categories, led to a few years of losses for the company. In 1979, the company moved to

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

. In 1982, Tractor Supply put ownership of the company back in the hands of executives and returned to their farm-store niche, resulting in a break-even year. The company was incorporated in

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

that year. On February 17, 1994, the company went public on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol TSCO.

1998–2003

Over time, Tractor Supply expanded to also serve hobbyist farmers, such as families living in the suburbs with an interest in gardening and livestock. In 2002, the company earned $1.21 billion.

2004–2019

Just two years later, in 2004, the company reported revenues of more than $1.7 billion and ''Fortune'' magazine named Tractor Supply to its list of the 100 fastest growing businesses. That year, Tractor Supply moved its headquarters to

Brentwood, Tennessee Brentwood is a city in Williamson County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 45,373 as of the 2020 United States census. He was replaced by Gregory Sandfort. In 2014, Tractor Supply made it on the Fortune 500 list. On March 31, 2018, the company opened its 1700th store. On September 4, 2018, the company celebrated its 80th anniversary by ringing the closing bell at the NASDAQ Stock Exchange in New York.

2020–present

TSC's 1,900th store opened in September 2020. By December, the company had 1,923 stores in 49 states. By October 2021, there were 1,967 stores in 49 states.

Hal Lawton Harry (Hal) A Lawton III (born c. 1974) is an American businessman. He is president and chief executive officer at Tractor Supply Company. He is also a member of the retailer’s board of directors. He was the president of Macy's from September 2 ...

became CEO in 2020. That year, the company received a Great Place to Work certification. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, Tractor Supply was deemed an essential business and remained open. The company saw revenue grow 27 percent as more people turned to gardening and pet and livestock ownership. That year, it also established the Tractor Supply Company Foundation. In 2021, Tractor Supply reached #291 on the ''Fortune 500'' list and had over 20 million members in its loyalty program, Neighbor's Club. TSC is the largest retail ranch and farm store operator in the U.S. On Oct 11, 2022, Tractor Supply received clearance from the FTC to close on its acquisition of

Orscheln Farm & Home Orscheln Farm & Home was a retail chain of farm and ranch supply stores headquartered in Moberly, Missouri. Orscheln has 175 stores located in Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Ohio. As of May 2018 ...

. In order to mitigate federal

anti-trust Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust l ...

concerns, Tractor Supply sold 73 Orscheln stores and the Orscheln distribution center in

Moberly, Missouri Moberly is a city in Randolph County, Missouri, United States. The population was 13,974 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Columbia, Missouri metropolitan area. History Moberly was founded in 1866, and named after Colonel William E. Moberly ...

, to

Bomgaars Bomgaars Supply Inc. (doing business as Bomgaars and stylized as bomgaars) is a retail chain of farm and ranch supply stores headquartered in Sioux City, Iowa. Bomgaars serves the Midwest, High Plains, and Rockies with stores in Iowa, Minnesota, ...

, and 12 stores were sold to Missouri-based farm store chain Buchheit.

Products

Tractor Supply carries between 15,500 and 20,000 products in store, including work and recreational clothing, lawn and garden tools, home goods, fencing, truck beds, chicken coops, pet food, and feed for farm animals. Around 15 percent of in-store products are unique to the store's region. Online, the company offers thirteen product categories and sells between 125,000 and 150,000 products. In 2020, the

and

pet A pet, or companion animal, is an animal kept primarily for a person's company or entertainment rather than as a working animal, livestock, or a laboratory animal. Popular pets are often considered to have attractive appearances, intelligence, ...

products category accounted for 47 percent of the company's sales. Two categories tied for second-highest sales with 21 percent each: hardware, tools, truck and towing products; and seasonal products such as lawn and garden equipment, gifts, and toys. They were followed by clothing and footwear with 7 percent and agricultural products with 4 percent of sales. Tractor Supply's exclusive brands represented 29 percent of their total sales in 2021.

Exclusive brands

Tractor Supply's exclusive brands include: * 4health * Red Shed * CountyLine * Retriever * Ridgecut * Blue Mountain * American Farm Works * Barn Star * Bit & Bridle * C.E. Schmidt Workwear * Red Stone * Producer's Pride * Job Smart * Paws & Claws * Traveller * Treeline * Pet Vet Clinic * Tractor Supply Co Rx

Operation

Marketing

Tractor Supply's mission statement is: "To work hard, have fun and make money by providing legendary service and great products at everyday low prices." In the mid-2000s, Tractor Supply conducted

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

campaigns featuring the

slogan A slogan is a memorable motto or phrase used in a clan, political slogan, political, Advertising slogan, commercial, religious, and other context as a repetitive expression of an idea or purpose, with the goal of persuading members of the publi ...

"The Stuff You Need Out Here." The company's tagline later became “For Life Out Here.” From 1998 to 2002,

George Strait George Harvey Strait Sr. (born May 18, 1952) is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor, and music producer. Strait is considered one of the most influential and popular recording artists of all time. In the 1980s, he was credited for ...

was the spokesman for Tractor Supply. In 2020, Tractor Supply was a sponsor of the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

. In 2021, the company became a corporate sponsor of

PBR PBR may refer to: Science and technology * Passive bistatic radar * Partition boot record * Pebble bed reactor, a type of nuclear reactor * Peripheral benzodiazepine receptor, another name for translocator protein * Phosphorus bromide * Photobio ...

Distribution centers

Tractor Supply has eight distribution centers: *

Waverly, Nebraska Waverly is a village in Lancaster County, Nebraska, United States. It is part of the Lincoln, Nebraska Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 3,227 at the 2010 census. History Waverly was platted in 1870 when the railroad was extende ...

Pendleton, Indiana Pendleton is a town in Fall Creek Township, Madison County, Indiana, United States. The population was 4,253 at the 2010 census. History Pendleton was platted in 1830, and incorporated as a town in 1854. It was named for town founder Thomas Pendle ...

Casa Grande, Arizona , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = Casa Grande-Casa Grande Union High School-1920-2.jpg , imagesize = 250px , image_caption = Historic Casa Grande Union High School which now serves as the ...

Waco, Texas Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the ...

Franklin, Kentucky Franklin is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Simpson County, Kentucky, United States. The county is located on the south central border of the state, and its population was 10,176 at the 2020 census. Kentucky Downs, formerly ...

Frankfort, New York Frankfort is a town in Herkimer County, New York, United States. The town is named after one of its earliest settlers, Lawrence (Lewis) Frank. The town of Frankfort includes a village, also called Frankfort. Frankfort is located east of Utica, ...

Hagerstown, Maryland Hagerstown is a city in Washington County, Maryland, United States and the county seat of Washington County. The population of Hagerstown city proper at the 2020 census was 43,527, and the population of the Hagerstown metropolitan area (exten ...

Macon, Georgia Macon ( ), officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Georgia. Situated near the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is located southeast of Atlanta and lies near the geographic center of the state of Geo ...

In 2021, the company broke ground on its ninth distribution center which will be located in

Navarre, Ohio Navarre (named after the Navarre region in Spain) is a village (United States)#Ohio, village in Stark County, Ohio, Stark County, Ohio, United States. The population was 1,957 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. It is part of the Canton- ...

Corporate affairs

Philanthropy

The company has been a sponsor for 4-H since 2010. In the fall of 2021, Tractor Supply raised $1.3 million for 4-H members through their Paper Clover campaign. In 2016, the company started its Grants for Growing program to raise money for FFA students. In 2021, the company raised $790,269. In 2019, Tractor Supply started working with the MuttNation Foundation, a nonprofit founded by

Miranda Lambert Miranda Leigh Lambert (born November 10, 1983) is an American country singer and guitarist. Born in Longview, Texas, she started out in early 2001 when she released her self-titled debut album independently. In 2003, she finished in third place o ...

that helps shelter pets. The foundation is supported by proceeds from MuttNation's line of pet products sold by Tractor Supply. In 2020, Tractor Supply joined Land O'Lakes, Microsoft and others in the American Connection Project to support rural broadband access.

Environmental initiatives

In 2017, all TSC stores were outfitted with LED lighting. In 2021, the company was named to Investor Business Daily's 100 Best ESG Companies. In December 2021, the company joined the

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it be ...

’s

Green Power Partnership The United States Environmental Protection Agency's Green Power Partnership is a voluntary program that supports the organizational procurement of green power by offering expert advice, technical support, tools and resources. It provides public hea ...

. TSC has committed to net zero carbon emissions by 2040.

Acquisitions and subsidiaries

In 2002, Tractor Supply was part of a group (also including four liquidation firms) that purchased some of the

lease A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the user (referred to as the ''lessee'') to pay the owner (referred to as the ''lessor'') for the use of an asset. Property, buildings and vehicles are common assets that are leased. Industrial ...

s of the bankrupt Quality Stores, Inc., a

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

-based company. The company operated over 300 stores in 30 states under the names CT Farm & Country; Country General; Quality Farm & Fleet; County Post; Central Farm and Fleet, and FISCO. In September 2016, Tractor Supply acquired Petsense, LLC, a small-box specialty retailer of pet supplies primarily located in small and mid-size communities. In February 2021, the company announced that it would acquire

for $297 million. Tractor Supply also owns Del's Feed & Farm Supply, a former farm retail chain in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

and

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

, with all but two Del's stores having been converted into Tractor Supply stores.

Maternity litigation

A lawsuit filed against the company by former employee Melissa Douglas claims the company violated the Americans with Disabilities Act when it refused to offer her modified work duties while she was pregnant.

TSC Stores L.P. (Canada)

In November 1966, TSC opened its first Canadian location in

London, Ontario London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximate ...

. The Canadian stores have not been affiliated with the U.S. operation of TSC since 1987, when the American parent company sold these locations to Birch Hill Equity Partner., an investment company based in Toronto. In July 2016,

Peavey Mart Peavey Mart is a Red Deer, Alberta-based chain of hardware and agricultural supply stores owned by Peavey Industries LP. The chain was originally founded by the Peavey Company in 1967 as National Farmway Stores, and was renamed Peavey Mart in 1 ...

acquired a controlling stake in TSC, and later acquired the company outright. In 2016, the Manitoba TSC stores were rebranded as Peavey Mart, while Ontario stores were rebranded by February 2021.

References

External links

* {{authority control Farm and ranch supply stores of the United States Retail companies established in 1938 Companies based in Tennessee Williamson County, Tennessee Home improvement retailers of the United States Companies listed on the Nasdaq 1938 establishments in North Dakota 1994 initial public offerings Agriculture companies established in 1938 American companies established in 1938 Hardware stores of the United States Agricultural supply stores Pet stores