Do you like Tractor Supply Co ?

[Lammie]

I always considered TSC was for the urban owner.
You pull up to my Crowders and the first thing you here is what do you need Caustic. I can say put on my bill, deliver it, pay for it then. Also when I go to my Crowders I am not looking for Wranglers and Cowboy hats. Yeah they sale t-post the Mickey Mouse kind the light weight things that bend not the good heavy duty. If you ask for help good Lord help you get someone that doesn't know chicken feed from horse.
The most amuseing thing is I have never seen a TSC actually in the country they are always in the larger towns and cities here. So I think I will stick with the experts and the one that brought me to the dance.

I love shopping locally and I have always tried to do so. The problem is that stores like WalMart and Homo Depot and TSC have put a lot of those mom and pop stores out of business. There are a lot of folks around here who moved here from Fort Worth and Dallas and they prefer those bigger stores. I buy all my feed at Cook's, and I know that they know what I want, they know my truck and they know me. They even give my dog a bone when I take him in there. I grew up in little towns and I remember my dad always going to the local feed store.

You get a lot of good gossip there, too!

 

[Lammie]

But I would rather go to TSC than Walmart, if those are my only two choices...

 

[Caustic Burno]

I always considered TSC was for the urban owner.
You pull up to my Crowders and the first thing you here is what do you need Caustic. I can say put on my bill, deliver it, pay for it then. Also when I go to my Crowders I am not looking for Wranglers and Cowboy hats. Yeah they sale t-post the Mickey Mouse kind the light weight things that bend not the good heavy duty. If you ask for help good Lord help you get someone that doesn't know chicken feed from horse.
The most amuseing thing is I have never seen a TSC actually in the country they are always in the larger towns and cities here. So I think I will stick with the experts and the one that brought me to the dance.

I love shopping locally and I have always tried to do so. The problem is that stores like WalMart and Homo Depot and TSC have put a lot of those mom and pop stores out of business. There are a lot of folks around here who moved here from Fort Worth and Dallas and they prefer those bigger stores. I buy all my feed at Cook's, and I know that they know what I want, they know my truck and they know me. They even give my dog a bone when I take him in there. I grew up in little towns and I remember my dad always going to the local feed store.

You get a lot of good gossip there, too!

You knocked that one out of the park except maybe Yellowstone. The urban cowboy wants to act country talk country, but really doesn't want to live country. IMO TSC is a joke at best for our modern hat wearer.

 

[Lammie]

I'll go to TSC when I can't find something anywhere else. It is frustrating though, because there are two in my area and they aren't always stocked very well. My H will buy his jeans there. We try to use the local feed and hardware stores and do as much business as we can in our town to support the local economy.

Lammie, Didn't you do all your Christmas shopping there? :lol:
(Please don't shoot me if you ever meet me)

No, that was my Valentine's shopping. Got my H a new dog bed and some spray paint. :heart:

 

[TxSimbrahShower]

Around our area, TSC is one of the last places that you can buy T-post, Gaucho barb-wire and other fencing materials. We use to have a Furrows that we bought all that at, but, Home Depot and Lowe's put them out of business. Most of the little local feed stores buy there fencing items at one of these, cheaper than having it trucked in, so then you pay double or triple for it. In fact there are 4 or 5 Home Depots and 2 or 3 Lowe's within about 20 to 30 minutes of our house now. Use to be a little longer to get to, but, the state built a new road several years back between I-45 and US-59 :roll:

 

[VanC]

We have the same thing here only with different kind of business. I work in a small town lumberyard about 10 emplyees. Have to compete with Home Depot, Lowe's and Menard's all about 10 miles away.

Have coffee & donuts in the morning, know our customers by name and do the little extra things for our community. We're always setting things outside the gate for people who can't make it in before we close and open up earlier than posted hours more times than not. The other night had some storms go through and had a guy at my door at 1:00 in the morning cause he had a limb go through his roof and needed a couple pieces of CDX for emergency patch job. Was glad to do it.

One thing that ticks me off is the people who build a half million dollar house and use one of the big boys for everything cause they're a little cheaper. Then they have us stock the drywall cause we don't charge a delivery fee like the big boys do.

Anyway, I could go on and on but you get the idea. Half the people in the area don't even know we exist, but the ones that do are very loyal. After working for a large corporation for 27 years its a real joy to work for a small "mom & pop" place.

 

[D.R. Cattle]

I know we're like a Dinosaur, and sooner or later our time will come, when the old timer's are gone, and the younger generation WONT take on the Legacy of AG related business.

Don't be so sure Crowder. If I had the option of having a feller like you to get my gear from, I'd mention it in my Thanksgiving prayer. I'd bet a lot more like me are thinking the same thing.

 

[Crowderfarms]

I know we're like a Dinosaur, and sooner or later our time will come, when the old timer's are gone, and the younger generation WONT take on the Legacy of AG related business.

Don't be so sure Crowder. If I had the option of having a feller like you to get my gear from, I'd mention it in my Thanksgiving prayer. I'd bet a lot more like me are thinking the same thing.

D.R. I'm much obliged to you and flattered over that compliment.This Country has changed, and the little man out there hardly stands a chance surrounded by the Corporate Giants. We strive to offer the same services to a big Producer, or a feller with a few Goats.I just went fishin' at TSC a couple hours ago. We beat them on almost all their bagged feeds, whether it's Bird Seed to Scratch Grains, to Hi-Mag products and so on by anywhere from 5-20%.We got another thing goin' on for us too,we have a Liar's table with at least a dozen or more seats filled by Local farmer's and Rancher's. Some retired from public jobs, but still active on the Farm, drinking Coffee or those Baby Cokes in the 8 oz. glass bottle. If I have a question shot at me by someone,that I may not know the answer to, I go to my "Senior" advisors with the problem. I wish all of you that have faith in the Local Feed Store could spend some time with us, no such person as a Stranger.But then again, here in Tennessee, we're kinda known for that feeling.

 

[D.R. Cattle]

TSC feed sucks too. I go there for Ag hardware cause there aren't any other options here. Dang near becoming another good reason to move. Keep your chin up. We're rootin for you.

 

[Karl]

Dont like to support big companys like TSC. I would much rather support our feed and grain store. Its out in the country so I dont have to go to town. Its 15 miles from the place but at least I dont have to go to town.

 

[Calman]

Nearest TSC is about 30mi. I like to look around their selection, and sometimes have to get something there they don't have in the small town near me.

Buy most everything I need here, maby be a little higher but when you figure your fuel cost, probably cheaper.

Cal

 

[lakading]

Buy most everything I need here, maby be a little higher but when you figure your fuel cost, probably cheaper.

Not to mention that the good will you establish within your community will go much farther than those few dollars that you MAY save by buying from the mega stores.

 

[Saltydawg]

I buy everything I can from the local feedstore/mill.
They know me, know my vehicle, and know what I'm after.

Unfortunately they can't carry a large stock of hardware though so I still have to make the occasional trip to the bigger stores in the city.

I usually go to TSC for barbed wire and t-posts and nuts and bolts. Tractor parts and stuff I go to a dealer.....havent had much luck buying equipment parts from the chain stores...they stock the cheapest import parts they can get their hands on and it shows in the quality.

So no...I don't "like" TSC but don't have a lot of choice with some stuff.

 

[flaboy+]

I for one am glad there is a TSC near by. Our "feed stores" cater to the horse owner mainly. I buy feed from them, gates, panels, and some lumber. I support them even though they are geared towards the horse folks. I use TSC for welding supplies, bolts (by the pound are much cheaper than HD or Lowes), diesel oil, filters and a few other little things. I can get in and out of TSC in a matter of minutes rather than standing in line at the big guys store. No co-op's near me. Nearest tractor dealer is about 40 miles and it's green. The TSC has saved me on a several Sundays when I broke something and needed a quick fix to finish.

My feed store almost has me loaded before I can get in to pay. I pull up, tell them what I want, go inside and pay, come back out and I am ready to go.

The other feed store I go to has a real nice pair of skin tight jeans if ya can get that mental picture. :lol:

 

[Hasbeen]

I made my first visit to a TSC this past weekend. The small feed store I normally use seems to have everything in stock and very good prices but is so small they keep most items in storage buildings out back and very little on display. I enjoyed browsing the TSC and seeing all the things I've heard about on the board. There were a lot of things I saw that I could use that I didn't even know existed so I enjoyed that part. However, they use the same sales strategy that Lowes uses. Cheap prices on some items to draw you in then higher prices on the accessories needed to finish the job.
I went there to look at a solar powered electric fence. I looked over the displays then grabbed a salesman to help me. I explained what I needed and asked him to recommend a system and set me up with everything I would need. He showed me a controller, some wire, and post insulators. I asked about grounding and he told me all I needed was one 4' rod. After reading all the comments on this board I knew that couldn't be right and when I stated I thought I would need three grounds, I could tell by the look on his face he was done with me. I had to ask for everything and left after about an hour and a half with a solar panel, 14 guage wire, a tester, and a bag of post insulators. I'll go to my local stores and get the rest of what I need before I start installation and after I do a search on past posts, I'll probably start a thread here looking for advise. I have to say I plan only to use the TSC in the future as a place to walk through and get ideas. My local feedstore will get the bulk of my business.

 

[cmjust0]

The biggest beef I have with TSC is their inventory/ordering system... I was told that 'the system' automatically orders their stock, and won't place an order for something until it shows zero in stock.. In other words, if the last of a particular item gets misplaced/lost/stolen/etc, the system won't restock it until someone asks for it specifically -- essentially alerting staff that they're out of something... Maybe it's just me, but I figure that to be THEIR job, not mine..

I was also told that their system always orders the quantity that was ordered last time, without adjusting for volume sold.. In other words, even if the market is trying to have a run on 'Product X,' the system will still only order, say, a dozen at a time, which sell out quickly, then order a dozen more for the next truck -- whenever that is.. Regardless of the fact that they could sell 10X the product if only they HAD it, they won't get it unless a manager notices (or is made aware of) the demand and makes manual adjustments.. Again, keeping up with the market should be their job, not ours..

Second biggest beef is stupid salespeople.. I asked one guy where their block heaters were, and he pointed me to their heating section -- as in, cast iron stoves and ventless fireplaces.. :roll: I explained to him what a block heater was, he told me, point blank, that they didn't have them.. Another salesperson interrupted him and told me where they kept their block heaters, and the idiot salesguy just kinda had this "Oh well" look on his face and went back to doing whatever he was doing.. Clearly, he couldn't have cared less...

Third beef ( :lol: ) is that they leave their brand new equipment outside to rust-weld itself together into its unassembled state -- making assembly a B**CH -- and still, they still expect brand-new prices for it.. TSC isn't alone in this one, though, as I've never seen an equipment retailer with an indoor showroom. I'll tell ya what, though, I hated to see that even the gearbox innards on the brand new 5' brush mower I bought from TSC were starting to show surface rust.. Even if they don't assemble them, they could at least fill the gearboxes, ya know? :roll:

All in all, I think TSC is only as successful as they are because their prices are generally reasonable and because so many of the local Ag suppliers keep bankers hours... I know that many of them would probably open the doors for their good customers, but I'd have to waste a lot of Saturday mornings to become a 'good customer'..

 

[Rustler9]

I like to go to TSC to look around when I've got a few minutes to kill. Sometimes, I buy stuff there but much prefer a locally owned feed store. The feed store that I did business with closed it's doors the first of this year and I hate it. I'd been doing business with these guys for about 25 years and they usually knew what I was coming in for, they'd put it down and I'd pay when I sold some calves etc. Many times, I would call and ask them to put something out for me and I'd go pick it up when I got in from work. TSC is an ok store but they're too high on most things and most of the sales people can't really help you.

 

[Lammie]

I like to go to TSC to look around when I've got a few minutes to kill. Sometimes, I buy stuff there but much prefer a locally owned feed store. The feed store that I did business with closed it's doors the first of this year and I hate it. I'd been doing business with these guys for about 25 years and they usually knew what I was coming in for, they'd put it down and I'd pay when I sold some calves etc. Many times, I would call and ask them to put something out for me and I'd go pick it up when I got in from work. TSC is an ok store but they're too high on most things and most of the sales people can't really help you.

Yea, that's been my beef with TSC, too. There are two in our area and they are both staffed with kids that usually don't know what they are talking about and don't seem to care if anyone needs assistance. I wish they would get some experienced help in there.

 

[Bret]

I like Tractor Supply. I do not like that they would not sell to me a single replacement 1/3 section for a round bale feeder this past weekend.

 

[AngusLimoX]

Very lucky to have 2 feed/supply stores that all know my face and name ( here comes hobby guy ) and a hardware store/industrial supply store that carries pto shafts for most tractor makes and most other parts, and a 24 hour a day number. ( Emergencies only please! ).

We have a TSC 30 miles away, been there twice in 4 years. They have specials on salt for our water softener.

With the 2 feed suppliers it's nice to debate the price of feed, even knowing your are about to be fleeced regardless!! Right Crowder!! :lol: