Tractor Supply construction scheduled for November

The Brentwood, Tennessee-based “rural lifestyle” retail chain Tractor Supply Co. plans to begin construction of a Clinton store in November on a parcel next to Fox Toyota.

The new store should open by early summer, the company has confirmed.

W.R. Newman and Associates, Inc., of Nashville will be contractor for the 19,097-square-foot store.

It will be built on the northeast side of the intersection of Interstate 75/Exit 122 and Tennessee 61/Andersonville Highway, just east of the Toyota dealership, according to Tractor Supply spokeswoman Niki Giacchina.

The store, which will bring about 15 new jobs, plans to include a sales floor, external support service area and a pet wash, she said. About half of the jobs are expected to be full-time positions.

This is one of more than 70 new stores the company plans to open across the nation in 2020, Giacchina said.

The company opened its 1,800th Tractor Supply store in early September. It now has those stores in 49 states, supplying basic maintenance products to home, land, pet and animal owners.

There already are Tractor Supply stores as close as LaFollette, Halls, and Oak Ridge.

The company also operates a chain of 177 “small-box” pet-supply stores in 26 states, called Petsense. The nearest Petsense store to Clinton is 11 miles away in LaFollette. The company has not mentioned any plans for expanding those stores to Clinton.

“With over 1,800 stores, Tractor Supply is always seeking the right opportunity to grow the retailer’s footprint nationwide,” Giacchina said. “The brand is passionate about serving its unique niche and has identified an opportunity to offer exceptional service and one-of-a-kind products to those living the ‘Out Here’ lifestyle in the Clinton community.”

According to its website (tractorsupply.com), Tractor Supply “was founded in 1938 as a mail order catalog business offering tractor parts to America’s family farmers.” It has grown to become “a leading-edge retailer with annual revenues of approximately $7.91 billion.”

It’s a public company with stock traded on the NASDAQ National Market under the symbol TSCO.

The website describes Tractor Supply’s customers as, “A niche market of farmers, horse owners, ranchers, part-time and hobby farmers, and suburban and rural homeowners, as well as contractors and tradesmen.” Tractor Supply stores are located primarily in towns outside major metropolitan areas and in rural communities, the website notes, adding that “the typical Tractor Supply store has about 15,500 square feet of selling space inside, with a similar amount of outside space.”

The typical store sells “everything – except tractors,” the company says. “At TSC, customers find everything they need to maintain their farms, ranches, homes and animals. As the inventors of the ‘do it yourself’ trend, our customers handle practically every chore themselves, from repairing wells to building fences, welding gates together, constructing feed bins, taking care of livestock and pets, repairing tractors and trucks and building trailers for hauling.”

Among products sold are clothing, equine and pet supplies, tractor/trailer parts and accessories, lawn and garden supplies, sprinkler/irrigation parts, power tools, fencing, welding and pump supplies and riding mowers.

Some of the vacant land adjacent to Fox Toyota is being marketed as The Center at Fox Run, a pad-ready retail/hotel/restaurant/general commercial property being developed by Maddox Property Management & Sales, Inc.