Tractor Supply Company
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tractor Supply Company (often written as "Tractor Supply Co." or "TSC") NASDAQ: 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.
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. As of 2006, the chain has over 658 stores in 37 states, predominantly in the southern and midwestern United States. TSC is headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee, a suburb of Nashville.
By offering more specialized products than most home improvement retail chains like The Home Depot, Lowe's or True Value, Tractor Supply Co. markets itself as a more rural alternative to the larger home improvement chains. Its current advertising slogan is "The Stuff You Need Out Here".
According to several marketing publications, TSC's target market isn't people who make their living at farming and ranching, but "hobby farmers", i.e., people who relish the rural lifestyle but earn their living in white-collar jobs.
TSC was part of a group that purchased the bankrupt Quality Stores, Inc., which had operated nearly 300 stores in 30 states under the names: CT Farm & Country; Country General; Quality Farm & Fleet; County Post; Central Farm and Fleet, and FISCO.
[edit] Similar companies
[edit] External links
- Tractor Supply Co.
- “The Stuff You Need Out Here”: A Semiotic Analysis of Agricultural Magazine Advertisements presented at Southern Association of Agricultural Scientists' 103rd annual meeting, Orlando, FL.
