Tractor supply more

grandpa Love

Well-known Member
Didn't want to hijack the post below...... Seems funny so many folks are down on tractor supply. I enjoy going in any of our local stores. Well stocked, friendly, knowledgeable staff, clean stores. Got 4 that are 25-30 miles away in each direction. And the new one 11 miles away. I applaud them for staying aware of their changing clients and stocking accordingly. Considering I'm probably the only person for 100 miles buying Farmall parts it makes zero sense for them to keep a huge selection of them in stock. Besides, I don't buy many tractor parts there anyway!! However, there are many homeowners who shop there for their mini farms and gardens. Those folks can find anything they need. As far as the complaints it's a clothing store....... Not around here, still just one small corner. I'm gonna say if tractor supply didn't keep up with the demand from it's new customers, it would soon join Sears........
 
I go to our local TSC quite a bit for various stuff and I enjoy shopping there. It stands alone on its own land, not part of other stores. There was a time it was common to go there for something and the shelf was empty but over the past few years its been pretty good on stocking shelves. Maybe the Runnings store around the corner had something to do with that. I thought maybe the Runnings store would end TSC locally but so far both have survived.
 
Within a half hour drive I have three TSCs to choose from. I also have a Family Farm and Home and a Rural King about the same distance away. Although the FFH and RK stores are much bigger, I usually go to TSC because they almost always have what I need and are quicker to get in and out of. If TSC doesn't have what I need, then I'll go to one of the bigger stores.
 
I have both TSC and RK.
RK is planning to move next to TSC in the old Kmart.
I think Rk took over the old Kmart building in Leesburg Fl.
I use TSC to fill my 20 # LP tanks.
They only charge by what put in the tank and you get full tank.
 
Both TSC and RK are about 7 miles. I go by them almost every day.
I go by all stores I shop at daily. Nothing is out of my way.
 
TSC stores locally are within heavily populated and suburban developed areas. There are lots of 500k homes near some of them. The stock in these stores reflects what their money makers are. TSC is smart enough to know what to emphasize in these stores. Years ago I had a front tractor tire to go down, and I needed a tube. I was stuck in a hay field on a Sunday. Generally they had always been available here. At the closest store tractor tubes were no longer stocked. I asked the manager what the name of the company was, and where the tractor supplies were located.

Knowing the above a neighbor and I have begun traveling 20 to 40 miles north to a more rural area where there are 2 TSC stores and a RK. With more competition among them, prices and farm supplies are much better. We try to anticipate our needs, watch for sale items, and keep stocked up. Price matching also works. A local higher priced TSC store reluctantly reduced the prices of fencing materials for my neigbor, because he had done some homework and called the distant TSC and RK stores. He had significant savings.
 
My impression of TSC is that they are a farmette supply store. Fencing, feed, chain saws, some chemicals, some tools, etc. Things for your garden, horses, and chickens. If you need actual tractor parts, they can order, but they do not move fast enough to stock everywhere. But you have to realize where their niche is an what the majority of customers go there for.
 
There are 2 Tractor Supply stores here.

One has been there forever, the new one literally a mile away, just opened a couple years ago. It apars to be a larger store, though I have not been in it yet.

I expected the old one to close, but it hasn't yet. It has taken the clothes store route, not much in the way of tractor parts anymore.

I mainly go there for 'by the pound' bolts. Probably 90% of the time I go there for something else I leave empty handed, either they didn't have it or driven away by high prices.

They do seem to have a steady stream of customers though, whether they buy anything, I don't know...
 
The store near me used to carry a lot of parts for tractors and implements and farm use tools you couldn't get at places like walmart. Over the years they have been cutting down on selling these items while opening up about a quarter of the store for clothing and increasing the space for nicknack junk and pet food. It's to a point now where more than half the store is merchandise you can get at walmart across the street. This is why I'm one of the ones complaining about tractor supply. Now, a lot of things I need I have to go 50 miles away to an Atwoods store.
 
About half of the TS stores around me are located in strip malls. Each store obviously caters to their local market which is fine if they intend to stay in business. A farm supply store they definitely are not, unless one would categorize a few backyard chickens on a 1 acre lot a farm. We frequent our local store mostly for dog and cat food, any farm related stuff that they might have is a bonus.
 
I like Tractor Supply. I have been buying from them since 1959. Back then they were a small chain of stores in the mid west. Same logo. I ordered mail order and they shipped. Now they are a nationwide chain with stores everywhere. There is a store about 15 miles away. They are not always fully stocked. During the first 2 years of the pandemic they had no oil. Lately has been better. After the fire we ordered an air compressor and some battery operated tools and oil. They delivered it all and we got about $200 bonus on gift cards.
 
Is there any store out there anymore where you can go into it and pick up a set of pistons or rings or gaskets for a tractor that is 60-70-80 years old?. Them days are long gone. Even JD or the other brands have to be special ordered to get parts anymore.
 
I go to the local TSC quite often. They have the basics. Hydraulic hoses and fittings, chain, nuts and bolts, mower sections and guards, belts, batteries etc. They don't carry a lot of brand specific or model specific parts, although they do have some of the more common tractor mufflers, ignition parts, some carburetor parts and universal switches, hydraulic cylinders and things like that.
 
Yes the Rural King stores are not what they once were, though I still get a lot there. My new favorite hardware/farm store is Fairview Farm Supply in Pembroke, KY. I only get there when making the trip for greenhouse and horticulture supplies at the nearby Deerfield Supply. Both are Amish businesses and have good prices and a lot of stuff for older farm operations.
 
Its kind of like TSC on steroids. Big outdoor clothing department, fishing and camping equipment, equipment to process meat, guns and ammo along with feed, farm supplies, tools and other stuff. If you like TSC you will like Runnings better. I find TSC here better if you want one thing as you can get in and out way faster than the much larger Runnings store. If you want more of a shopping experience then Runnings is better.
 
Runnings is usually a lot bigger store. A lot of sporting goods, firearms ammo etc. They usually have a bigger selection than TSC. Just overall more inventory.
 
Hardly in the same category. I didn't get to spend a lot of time there but the new Running store an hour or so from here had more farm related stuff in just the few aisles I went down than every TS in the County combined.
 
I agree, there is one a block away from Wal-Mart In Port St Lucy Florida, and another two miles from Tampa Fl, it's in Lutz Florida, and its busy for the the people who have a few horses, or chickens, i go there in the winter just to look around,and maybe visit when on winter vacation !!!! The Sam's club, in Tampa, sell's the little chicken house for the person who wants, farm fresh eggs!
 

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