Tractor Supply was wise to return to its core mission - Washington Examiner (2024)

CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, PA. — Several dozen people walked through the Butler County Tractor Supply store Saturday afternoon, which lies along U.S. Route 19 — a two-lane highway that, one hundred years after its inception, is stillthelong-haul road that connects the Gulf of Mexico with Lake Erie.

Over the past 20 years, this section of Route 19 has gone from farmland in all directions to standing on the precipice of suburban Pittsburgh with stately palatial suburban homes intertwined with western Pennsylvania’s rural farmland, most of the inhabitants of conflicting forces finding a way to make it work.

Farms, shopping districts, and brand-new suburban and traffic plans have found ways to influence each other in ways most people don’t calculate, including how they use their disposable income.

Ten or even five years ago, farmers buying feed, a tractor, fencing, or gates would probably not have run into a suburban family of four spending the afternoon shopping at a tractor supply store with their kids darting between the baby chicks and begging for their parents to buy a go-kart or a new fishing pole. Instead, that family would probably be at a mall begging for a new handheld Game Boy or PlayStation.

Since COVID-19, a lot of people who never would have planted a garden, raised chickens, or gone fishing or hunting have made dramatic lifestyle changes. What may have started out as a way to deal with supply chain problems, staggering gas prices, and worker shortages became a lifestyle change to be not just more self-reliant but also to save money as inflation continues to wear on.

The company is an American success story: It has had 26 straight years of sales growth, expanded to over 2,000 stores, and employs more than 46,000 people — all despite having a name that makes some outsiders think they only supply tractors.

Established in the 1930s as a mail-order seed company, Butler County Tractor Supply is the nation’s largest rural lifestyle retailer and one of the fastest-rising companies in the Fortune 500. As of March of this year, the company operated 2,233 stores in 49 states and 202 Petsense by Tractor Supply stores in 23 states. Its net income for the quarter, that ended March 30,rose a whopping 8.2 percentage points from $183.1 million to $198.2 million this year alone.

One of the reasons Tractor Supply is so connected with its consumers is that its headquarters is located in Tennessee, meaning the decision makers weren’t living in Los Angeles or Manhattan and are culturally connected to the very people they serve. That’s a rarity among American corporations.

Why is that a big deal? Well, as outlined in The Great Revolt, corporations, institutions, academia, professional sports, and the media started to lose relationships and connections with their customers, students, consumers, and audiences when they started moving their locations to this country’s “super zip codes.” These are places where the culture is wildly different from the people who consume their products, meaning the corporate chieftains were out of touch with the very people they were serving.

Tractor Supply was wise to return to its core mission - Washington Examiner (1)

The boardrooms of these places thought everyone shared their viewpoint that politics belonged in everything they did, in particular their leftist politics, and they began inflicting that on their customers.

The pain was swift and immediate for both parties. Consumers just wanted to shop without their favorite store, football team, football player, beer, or candy bar preaching to them about politics. Oftentimes they may have even shared their political view but still didn’t want to be preached to or scolded when buying dog food or those NFL tickets that cost them half their paychecks.

Some corporations learned quickly: Think Target, sort of. And some, such as Bud Light, did not.

Two weeks ago, Tractor Supply, which had previously avoided weighing in on political and cultural issues, dipped its toes into the volatile world of politics. The company was called out on social media for sponsoring non-Tractor Supply business activities such as “pride” festivals, voting campaigns, and adopting DEI hiring practices.

The company responded quickly, within days, basically saying, “My bad.” A statement went out saying the company would no longer sponsor non-business events, left- or right-leaning, and focus more on business-related sponsorshipswell within its wheelhouse, such as education, animal welfare, veteran causes, and being a good neighbor.

The company also said it would stop reporting corporate hiring data to the left-wing Human Rights Campaign.

“We work hard to live up to our mission and values every day and represent the values of the communities and customers we serve,” said Tractor Supply’s statement. “We have heard from customers that we disappointed them. We have taken this feedback to heart.”

Tractor Supply’s abrupt reversal makes sense.

“More and more companies whose companies are in the heartland primarily are going to resist taking the culture-war positions that Manhattan and San Francisco want them to take,” said Brad Todd, a Republican strategist.

In short, the initial decision to take Tractor Supply out of its non-political stance and into the fray was likely driven by someone on the board of directors or the shareholders of the publicly traded company, someone not from Tennessee — and not Hal Lawton, CEO of Tractor Supply, who has been a homeboy most of his life outside of his turn at Macy’s Department Store.

Todd said stores such as Tractor Supply don’t have to choose the other side, but they will find that actively opposing the commonsense approach of their communities has no future in business.

“People can go to Amazon and buy from a company that does agree with them so the storefront companies better get with theiraudience,” he said.

Several new organizations have reported that Tractor Supply has fractured their consumers, with Bloomberg reporting that its decision “will stunt its growth”and CNN writing,“My Tractor Supply hat was a symbol. Now it’s in the garbage.”

Here is the rub on those stories: This is about Tractor Supply getting out of theculture wars, something most people wish corporations, institutions, and academia would all do.

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In 2022, Ian Bremmer, the president and founder of Eurasia Group, a leading global political risk research and consulting firm, warned that customers, employees, and investors, mostly on the left, were bringing the U.S. culture wars to corporate boardrooms and, in doing so, were risking their corporations’ bottom lines and their customers’ trust. Bremmer repeated that warning earlier this year, writing that culture wars represent one of the biggest business risks in 2024.

Tractor Supply quickly recognized that what made it a good partner with their customers was not being a purveyor of politics. That former attitude made Tractor Supply one of the fastest-growing companies in the country.

Tractor Supply was wise to return to its core mission - Washington Examiner (2024)

FAQs

Tractor Supply was wise to return to its core mission - Washington Examiner? ›

The company responded quickly, within days, basically saying, “My bad.” A statement went out saying the company would no longer sponsor non-business events, left- or right-leaning, and focus more on business-related sponsorships well within its wheelhouse, such as education, animal welfare, veteran causes, and being a ...

What is the controversy with Tractor Supply? ›

Tractor Supply's reversal came after Robby Starbuck, who in 2022 launched a failed bid for Tennessee's 5th Congressional District and now hosts a podcast, waged a weeks-long campaign on X calling on customers to boycott Tractor Supply and contact its corporate leadership over the company's LGBTQ+ and DEI hiring ...

What's going on with Tractor Supply going woke? ›

Tractor Supply is getting rid of several initiatives that some social media users and customers have slammed as "woke" in recent weeks. The farming supplies retailer, which is headquartered in Tennessee, on Thursday said it "will ensure our activities and giving tie directly to our business" moving forward.

What is Tractor Supply's mission statement? ›

Tractor Supply's Mission is “to work hard, have fun and make money by providing legendary service and great products at everyday low prices.”

Did Tractor Supply Co say it would not longer submit data to the human rights campaign? ›

Late last week, just as Pride Month festivities were dialing down, Tractor Supply announced it was eliminating all diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) roles at the company, retiring current DEI goals and no longer submitting data to the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ+ advocacy group.

Who bought out Tractor Supply? ›

In July 2016, Peavey Mart acquired a controlling stake in TSC, and later acquired the company outright.

Who is Tractor Supply's biggest competitor? ›

Competitor comparison
  • The Home Depot Inc Headquarters. 463,100. $152.7B.
  • Lowe's Companies Inc Headquarters. 168,000. $86.4B.
  • Deere & Co Headquarters. 83,000. $61.2B.
  • Ace Hardware Corp Headquarters. 12,500. $8.6B.

Does Tractor Supply support LGBTQ? ›

Commentary: Tractor Supply's Retreat from LGBTQ+ Inclusion Does Not Reflect the Diversity of Rural America. The “rural lifestyle” retailer says it is backing away from sponsoring Pride organizations and making other policy changes in response to customer feedback.

Why are people upset with TSC? ›

Tractor Supply (TSCO) is facing outrage from Black farmers after it made a drastic decision to appease its conservative customers. The farm supply company recently axed its diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and climate change advocacy.

Is Tractor Supply an ethical company? ›

In accordance with relevant laws, regulations, and international standards, Tractor Supply Company is committed to the following: Promoting a diverse and inclusive work environment free of discrimination and harassment. Prohibiting child labor, forced labor, and human trafficking.

What's the deal with Tractor Supply? ›

Why the controversy about Tractor Supply? Tennessee-based company drops DEI, inclusion and climate initiatives. Tractor Supply is altering its initiatives amid backlash from conservative consumers.

Who is Tractor Supply's target customer? ›

Who are Tractor Supply Company's customers? A niche market of farmers, horse owners, ranchers, part-time and hobby farmers, and suburban and rural homeowners, as well as contractors and tradesmen.

What is the slogan of Tractor Supply? ›

The big picture: Tennessee-based Tractor Supply is a consumer-facing company that quite explicitly appeals to conservative rural America with its "life out here" slogan.

What is wrong with Tractor Supply? ›

Now it has a few more. The retailer retreated from its diversity and climate goals after an “anti-woke” protest on social media — and ignited a backlash.

Why is Tractor Supply ending in DEI? ›

NEW YORK (AP) — Tractor Supply is ending an array of corporate diversity and climate efforts, a move coming after weeks of online conservative backlash against the rural retailer. Tractor Supply said it would be eliminating all of its diversity, equity and inclusion roles while retiring current DEI goals.

What does DEI stand for at Tractor Supply? ›

The company's sudden reversal last month of its publicized years-long commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is a cautionary tale about the challenges when serving a diverse customer base in these highly politicized times.

What is the tractor supply company lawsuit? ›

Tractor Supply Company Case Settles for $6,650

In May 2018, the Tractor Supply Company (TSC) settled its case with the California Air Resources Board (CARB) involving one violation type related to offers for sale of mislabeled small off-road engines.

Why did John Deere pull out of Tractor Supply? ›

The decision comes weeks after rural retailer Tractor Supply ended its corporate diversity and climate efforts. The National Black Farmers Association called for a boycott of Deere and Tractor Supply following the decisions, asking the CEOs to step down.

What is the Deere and company controversy? ›

Deere & Co., the world's top farm machinery maker, is pulling back from diversity measures in the face of conservative criticism, the second agriculture-related company in less than a month to bend to such pressure.

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