Tractor Supply to buy 85 Quality stores: Purchase puts chain atop farm goods niche - Tractor Supply dominate in farm and garden equipment retailing sector
Author: DSN Retailing Today

NASHVILLE, TENN. -- Tractor Supply Co.'s purchase of 85 stores operated by bankrupt Quality Stores turned the tables on its long-time rival, moving the farming goods retailer into the top spot and eliminating national competition. With Quality liquidating its entire store base, Tractor Supply now dominates this retailing niche and will leap forward in its long-term growth strategy.

A bankruptcy judge in Michigan approved a bid last month by Tractor Supply and its joint venture partners Great American Group, Gordon Brothers Retail Partners and DJM Asset Management for 152 Quality units. Tractor Supply of Nashville opted for 85 of those units, with the balance to be sold by its partners. Another successful bidder was Missouri-based Orscheln Farm & Home, which bought 26 stores in Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado and Iowa. The remainder of Quality's stores west of the Mississippi, about 133. had already been closed by the time of the judge's decision.

The addition of 85 stores, along with Tractor Supply's previous plan to open 25 units this year, means the retailer will now boost its store count by 34%. By year's end, the company will have at least 433 units in 29 states, including a large presence in the Northeast, an area it had earmarked for future expansion. For Tractor Supply, the deal involved the purchase of 25 stores, as well as lease rights to 60 store locations and related furniture, equipment and fixtures, but not inventory.

Quality, once the largest farming retailer in the United States, filed for bankruptcy protection Nov. 1. Losses have plagued the company since 2000, due to trouble digesting its 1999 merger with Central Tractor Farm & Country.