Orscheln Farm and Home split up

[Bakeragr]

Orscheln Farm & Home is a regional chain in and around Missouri and surrounding states. It was announced over a year ago that they were selling out to larger rival Tractor Supply. Then it seemed there was virtually no new information about it. Apparently, the FTC ordered Tractor Supply to divest nearly half of the chain to two competitors. In addition, most of the stores to be divested are probably some of the best Orscheln locations, I'd think. Looks like they have to get rid of many of the oldest locations with probably the best sales.

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/ ... cquisition

I'm not familiar with Bomgaars at all, but I am familiar with Buchheit. They're a really good store, but this will more than double their store count, which may be a lot for them to digest. In addition, the two stores they're getting in Nebraska (and Kirksville, MO for that matter) are nowhere near their base in SE Missouri.

Lastly, Bomgaars is also getting the Orscheln distribution center in Moberly, MO. This is probably good for that community, which always seems to struggle with layoffs and downsizings. But in the end, I wonder if Tractor Supply wonders if they should have even bothered. They basically took out their largest competitor but created another.

[Bakeragr]

https://www.wsj.com/articles/ftc-clears ... os1&page=1

Here's another story with quotes from Tractor Supply's CEO. I bet this did not go as they anticipated at all. It almost makes me wonder if someone really had it out for them.

Or, if this is what the FTC does with overlapping acquisitions these days, if Kroger thinks it will buy Albertson's, it's probably going to end up a big mess and a new Haggen 2.0 offshoot. Grocery stores in my opinion deserve a little more scrutiny than a Farm & Home retailer that truly overlaps a lot with Walmart, Lowe's and ACE Hardware, to be honest.

[pseudo3d]

Orscheln Farm & Home has locations as far south as Waco. Their store opened in the mid-2010s in a former Gander Mountain opened a few years before their bankruptcy. About two miles west of it is a Tractor Supply Company. The Waco store is going to Bomgaars, which currently only has stores as far south as Kansas

[storewanderer]

Tractor Supply is nothing to get excited about. Can't speak for any of these other chains.

The stores that didn't go to Tractor Supply probably got lucky.

[Bakeragr]

No, the stores locally for me are going to the other operators, with Columbia, Fulton and Jefferson City going to Buchheit. I'm pretty excited about that, if Buchheit can pull it off. They're more than doubling their store count.

TSC and Orscheln aren't either one that great, but Orscheln opened a new store in a former Kmart here in Jefferson City a few years ago and it's a much better store with better selection. Orscheln is hit-or-miss with supplies though. It seems like if they are out of something, that is it, they won't get more or order more for you. That's all they will have for the season.

Tractor Supply to me hasn't ever really excited me much, either. It seems to pander to the folks that like the idea of living in rural areas as opposed to actually doing so.

[jamcool]

TSC goes after the “Weekend Farmer” market nowadays, a lot of their stores are being built on the edge of urban areas, where there are 1/2 to one acre, horse/mini-farm properties.

[storewanderer]

TSC strikes me as a store with not great prices, messy, cluttered, not well stocked, and low staffing levels. I don't like them at all. My last couple visits I had to go searching for a cashier. It was mid afternoon. They had a total of 2 employees on duty for the whole place. They seem to have gotten worse and worse in the past 3-4 years too. They were barely acceptable before but have moved to being unacceptable now. May as well just go to Wal Mart for your items, though the prices are probably not much better at this point. Rural customers embrace Amazon and other online options and for good reason.

TSC strikes me as one of those chains that expands expands expands and then one day we will suddenly see them gone.

[mbz321]

TSC goes after the “Weekend Farmer” market nowadays, a lot of their stores are being built on the edge of urban areas, where there are 1/2 to one acre, horse/mini-farm properties.

A newer Tractor Supply store in my area is exactly this. Well not so much an 'urban' area, but think mainly big mcmansion suburban neighborhoods and a few smaller old-school farms that haven't been taken over by developers yet. Although they certainly carry some unique items, and a surprising selection of hardware odds-and-ends, this store really doesn't fit here too well and I have never seen more than a small handful of customers at any given time. The township is/was a bear to work with as well so they don't sell live animals or offer propane, making the store even more useless. I'd be surprised if it makes it to 10 years.