I know several of our area repair places (even one that is part of a small chain) work like that - they stock certain things that are more common, but if you are there for a couple hours while something is worked on there may be 3 or 4 cars stopping by delivering parts for various jobs (even with only 2 stores in the area, a Carquest and a Napa).storewanderer wrote: ↑December 1st, 2021, 10:12 pm I was recently doing a car repair and it was a Saturday (booked the appointment Friday) and they were missing one of the parts. Great, I thought- I am going to have to leave the car here. Nope, they arranged for the part to be delivered within a couple hours. It was a local Napa who did it and I watched them show up with it while I was waiting, but same general idea as how these O'Reilly special orders are handled and moved around so quickly. This was one of the biggest selling points when O'Reilly took over CSK was the ability to more quickly fulfill special orders and get more commercial/mechanic business with this delivery model. O'Reilly will also take larger former CSK Stores in a market and convert portions of the stores into mini-warehouses to further support the delivery operation.
They (Tractor Supply) usually have quite a bit that works for non-farm as well.mbz321 wrote: ↑December 2nd, 2021, 8:42 am Funny you mention Tractor Supply as a location opened earlier in the year in a town I grew up in, in suburban PA, about 45 minutes outside Philly. My folks still live there and I visit them about once a week...the Tractor Supply never has more than a few cars in the parking lot. While there is some nearby agriculture and very small farms, the majority of the surrounding area is mcmansion neighborhoods. It just seemed like an odd place for them to set up shop. They also don't do propane refills or sell live animals due to local regulations. The store has good reviews though and has a self-serve dog wash which seems to be popular.
In the past several years, I have seen several new TrueValue stores pop up in local shopping centers, places that are distant from a Lowe's/Home Depot and they seem to be doing okay. They might all have the same ownership as they seem to all have the same store hours, but I'm not certain. There's a small chain of ACE stores already in the area.
Lots of animal foods (dog, cat and other non-farm ones), wild feed (for those who feed the birds/squirrels etc.), some hardware stuff (like a limited paint supply, pieces for machines that even suburbs may have like lawnmowers and snow blowers). Also a small selection of clothing items and gift type stuff that may attract some.
Not sure how much they vary in different areas - seems a spot like you describe might limit the actual farm stuff.
Same goes for those TrueValue/ACE locations. If they are not too close to the bigger chains (like here we have a True Value, the next town has ACE, but you have to go 15-20 miles to either Home Depot or Lowes, in different directions), people likely go to them for everyday stuff (like when your xyz breaks and you need a replacement for it quickly), while going to the larger spots occasionally for more major needs.