Tractor Supply Company

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Tractor Supply Company
Public
Traded as NASDAQTSCO
Industry Retail
Founded 1938
Headquarters Brentwood, Tennessee, United States
Number of locations
1,361[1]
Area served
49 U.S. states[2]
Key people
Gregory A. Sandfort - CEO
Products Clothing & Footwear,Dog, Cat & Pet Supplies,Trailers & Accessories,Lawn and Garden Supplies,Propane & Heating Supplies,Tools & Gun Safes,Fencing,Welders & Welding Supplies,Lawn Mowers & Power Generators, etc.[3]
Revenue $5.2 billion (2013).[4]
$328.2 million (2013).[4]
Website www.tractorsupply.com
A Tractor Supply Co. location in Springboro, Ohio

Tractor Supply Company (TSCO) is a large retail chain of stores that offers a number of products for home improvement, agriculture, lawn and garden maintenance, and livestock, equine and pet care. It is a leading U.S. retailer in its market.[5]

History[edit]

Interior of a Tractor Supply Company store in East Tawas, Michigan.

Founded as a mail order tractor parts business in 1938, the first Tractor Supply Co. retail store was founded in 1939 in Minot, North Dakota. TSC is headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee, a suburb of Nashville.[5]

In 2004, when the company reported revenues of more than US$1.7 billion, Fortune magazine named Tractor Supply to its list of the 100 fastest growing businesses.[5] As of October 22, 2014, Tractor Supply Company operated 1,361 stores in 48 states,[1] as well as a website under the TractorSupply.com name.[6]

On October 10, 2013, the company celebrated its 75th anniversary by ringing the opening bell at the Nasdaq stock exchange in New York.[7]

Products[edit]

Tractor Supply lists five major product categories. The livestock and pet products category accounted for 43 percent of the company's sales in 2013. The category with the second highest sales was hardware, tools, truck and towing products, with 23 percent of sales. Seasonal products such as lawn and garden equipment, gifts and toys were 20 percent of sales, followed by clothing and footwear with 9 percent and agricultural products with 5 percent of sales.[8]

Marketing[edit]

The company has conducted advertising campaigns featuring the slogan "The Stuff You Need Out Here."[5] Their mission statement is: "To work hard, have fun and make money by providing legendary service and great products at everyday low prices."

Acquisitions and subsidiaries[edit]

In 2002, TSC was part of a group (also including four liquidation firms) that purchased some of the leases of the bankrupt Quality Stores, Inc.,[9] a Michigan-based company which at one time had operated nearly 700 stores in 30 states under the names CT Farm & Country; Country General; Quality Farm & Fleet; County Post; Central Farm and Fleet, and FISCO.

The company also owns Del's Feed and Farm Supply, a farm retail chain in the Pacific Northwest and Hawaii.[10]

TSC Stores, Limited (Canada)[edit]

In November 1966, TSC opened its first Ontario location in London. In 1987, when there were ten Ontario locations, the American parent company sold these locations to a management team led by Murray Cummings. As of January 2009, there were 39 corporate-owned TSC stores in Ontario, mostly in the southwest, and two stores in Manitoba (Winkler and Brandon). In Canada, TSC brands itself as "The Incredible Country Hardware Store."[11]

From 2007 to 2009, TSC Stores was title sponsor of the The Dominion Tankard curling championship in Southern Ontario.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Tractor Supply Company Reports Third Quarter Results". Market Wire (NASDAQ.com). 2014-10-22. 
  2. ^ "Tractor Supply Company Enters Utah Market". Market Wire (NASDAQ.com). 2014-10-28. 
  3. ^ Link Tractor Supply Website - About Us.
  4. ^ a b "Tractor Supply Key Statistics". Yahoo Finance. 
  5. ^ a b c d Emily B. Rhoades, “The Stuff You Need Out Here”: A Semiotic Analysis of Agricultural Magazine Advertisements presented at Southern Association of Agricultural Scientists' 103rd annual meeting, Orlando, Florida
  6. ^ [1], Yahoo Finance, Tractor Supply Company Profile. Retrieved December 2, 2014.
  7. ^ "Tractor Supply Co. execs ring in company's 75th year". The Tennessean. October 11, 2013. 
  8. ^ Tractor Supply Company (February 19, 2014). "SEC Form 10-K". 
  9. ^ Forrester, Brian (May 12, 2002). "Tractor Supply plows Quality row to growth". Nashville Business Journal. 
  10. ^ Company Profile, Del's Feed & Farm Supply website
  11. ^ TSC Stores Canada website, About Us page, accessed January 24, 2009

External links[edit]