By Tonia Noe-Rose - Staff Writer
Put a man in a Tractor Supply store and you have a guy gone wild. The farmers and man-stuff buyers could have a store of their very own, providing a binding agreement is made for Tractor Supply owners to purchase the old Wal-Mart building in Morehead.
Mark D. Gillman, of Brentwood, Tenn. and real estate agent for the company, said they do have an interest in opening a store in the area and will continuing talking about the matter. “We have interest in the market and are in discussion with the owner of the old Wal-Mart building,” he said.
Farmer and concrete business owner Jason Rose of Olive Hill said he would be glad to have a Tractor Supply open in Morehead. “I’ve heard that could end up being a Tractor Supply and that would be a good thing for this area,” Rose said. “I buy a lot of farm supplies they stock just about anything you need.”
In 1938, Charles E. Schmidt Sr. of Chicago established a mail order tractor parts business that now has 750 stores in 40 states and stands proud by the company’s motto, “The right stuff, in the right place, at the right time.”
By 1939, the business had grown into a retail store in Minot, North Dakota. Presently, Tractor Supply is the largest retail chain in America, which serves full and part time farmers, ranchers, hobby farmers, rural homeowners and contractors.
Tractor Supplies are basically located in rural areas and the outlying suburbs of major cities. A typical store has 15,000 to 24,000 square feet of inside selling space and a similar amount of space on the outside to display agricultural fencing, livestock equipment and horse stalls. Each store team includes a welder, a farmer and a horse owner that together provides knowledge to the customers.
