Tractor Supply history

TSC was founded in 1938 by Charles E. Schmidt as a mail order tractor parts business, and today we've grown into the largest operator of retail farm stores in America.

The first retail store was founded in 1939 in Minot, North Dakota.

He began his business career in the radio industry, in 1947 going to work for an Augusta, Georgia, radio station owned by J.B. Fuqua.

Asda history and corporate video "Asda History Asda Stores Limited was founded as Associated Dairies & Farm Stores Limited in 1949 in Leeds.

In 1958 he took the business public, and TSC shares began trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

On January 14, 1959, Tractor Supply became publicly traded on the Over-The-Counter Market and reached $10 million in sales.

After he stepped away from the company, Schmidt moved to south Florida in 1964, then at the age of 63 started another career as banker, gaining control of a 27-bank chain, Gulfstream Banks, which became his second company to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

In 1967, TSC opened its first international stores in Canada.

After a stint in the service during the Korean War, he returned to Fuqua, where he served in a number of executive capacities until 1968 when he left to run his own business, the Daisy Corporation.

1969: The company is sold to National Industries.

When he rejoined Fuqua in 1974 it was a much more diversified company.

1978: Fuqua Industries acquires the business.

After working 15 years for a New Jersey retail chain, Two Guys Discount Stores, Scarlett came to TSC in 1979, a period of transition in the business.

When management bought the company in 1982 it was generating annual revenues in the $125 million range, drawn from 135 stores.

In February 1992, Hennesy stepped down, replaced as chairman and CEO by Scarlett.

On February 17, 1994, the company went public on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol TSCO.

TSC also looked to the Internet starting in 1997, purely as a way to provide information to its customers.

In 1999 it had merged with Central Tractor Farm & Country of Iowa, making it the largest farm store retailer in the United States, but the debt incurred, as well as a clash in corporate cultures, led to severe repercussions.

The price of TSC stock dipped to the $8 range in late 2000 as investors questioned the wisdom of the company's rapid move into Florida, but when it was clear that the gambit was paying off investors began to drive up the price.

In November 2001 the company was forced into bankruptcy.

In 2002, the company earned $1.21 billion.

Just two years later, in 2004, the company reported revenues of more than $1.7 billion and Fortune magazine named Tractor Supply to its list of the 100 fastest growing businesses.

In 2011, after 72 years in business, Tractor Supply celebrated the opening of its 1,000th store.

On October 10, 2013, the company celebrated its 75th anniversary by ringing the opening bell at the Nasdaq stock exchange in New York.”

In 2014, Tractor Supply made it on the Fortune 500 list.

He's the kind of shopper around whose precise needs and habits Tractor Supply has built a $6.2 billion (2015 revenues) business . The typical Tractor Supply customer owns land, keeps pets, raises chickens and drives a pickup.

Tractor Supply has 1,500 locations spread across 49 states; the company plans to open around 115 stores in 2016 and about 120 stores per year after that until 2,500 are in operation, mostly in rural or exurban areas.

In 2017, all TSC stores were outfitted with LED lighting.

On March 31, 2018, the company opened its 1700th store.

TSC's 1,900th store opened in September 2020.

At September 25, 2021, the Company operated 177 Petsense stores in 23 states.