There’s a Tractor Supply Co. store in Oakdale now, sort of back behind the Shop ’n Save grocery along Steubenville Pike. You can miss it — easily.
That’s one way this chain of stores with the farm-friendly name has been sneaking up on urban areas like Pittsburgh, getting ever closer as the Tennessee retailer discovers new customers can be found in suburbs and cities where it’s no longer weird to have a neighbor with a few chickens.
Before the 19,000-square-foot Oakdale site opened in April, the 1,400-plus store chain’s closest Allegheny County location to the city was in Richland, set back off Route 8 behind a pediatrician’s office. Dan Monk, who used to work there and now manages the Oakdale site, figures his new store is the closest yet to Pittsburgh proper.
Earlier this year, the Tractor Supply corporate team increased its U.S. store target from 2,100 to 2,500, in part because management figured out it could put stores closer together than previously thought because in the northeastern quadrant of the U.S., people tend to live closer together than they do further west.
“What we found is that, over the years, we actually have a little bit more broader appeal than we had initially thought,” CFO Anthony F. Crudele told analysts at an investment conference last month.
Last year, Tractor Supply reported sales in established stores — or, same-store sales — rose 3.8 percent and revenues were up more than 10 percent. Annual same-store sales gains have been smaller in each of the past few years, but they remain in positive territory.
In fiscal 2015, the company is projecting sales between $6.2 billion and $6.3 billion, with same-store sales up between 2.5 percent and 4 percent.
Those not familiar with the Tractor Supply chain might not know that these are stores where it’s possible to pick up chicken feed, a solid farm gate, vaccines for the dogs or the horses, and also get a little help figuring out how to set up an electrified fence to keep deer out of the backyard vegetable garden.
“A lot of what I do is teach,” said Mr. Monk, a Ross resident who actually has a neighbor with chickens. He also knows how to replace his own water heater.
He’s not all that different from the description of the chain’s customer base that Mr. Crudele described last month: “They’re very loyal; they’re conservative; they’re do-it-yourselfers; they’re hard workers; they’re a really terrific customer base.” He also said they tend to be self-reliant landowners and animal owners.
Merchandise overlaps with that at hardware chains like Home Depot and Lowe’s — need a grill or some outdoor furniture? — as well as retailers such as Agway, which has several area stores, and Rural King, which has a location in Fayette County.
Tractor Supply won’t help consumers design a new kitchen, but it could be useful to someone who needs a riding mower that can do a 180-degree turn to cover the three acres behind the house.
Southwestern Pennsylvania shifts pretty easily between intensely urban areas and farmland, meaning that while parts of Squirrel Hill feel like a neighborhood in New York City, there are also residents in the region who are thrilled to find a place that sells a deep well pump since they have well water, and truck farmers who need parts to keep equipment going as they plant crops on widespread plots of land.
In this digital era, Mr. Monk relies on many customers finding his store in part by researching merchandise online and discovering that Tractor Supply carries what they want. “Most people do their legwork on the Internet,” he said.
Before the Oakdale store opened, some of those customers might have driven to the chain’s locations in places like Delmont or Washington, Pa., or maybe Beaver Falls. The new store is still being discovered, so Mr. Monk isn’t sure how the customer mix will settle out.
He’s also not sure if more Tractor Supply stores are likely to pop up even closer to the region’s urban core, although he, too, has watched the once-rural chain discover a taste for the suburbs. “They really have a good business model,” he said.
Teresa F. Lindeman: tlindeman@post-gazette.com or 412-263-2018.
First Published: June 30, 2015, 4:00 a.m.