Special Report: Farm and Fleet Channel

r From Pg. 4 to today’s successful independent retailers,” said Scheib. “Consumers won’t have to wander down aisles trying to locate a team member to have their questions answered. The hardware/farm and fleet channels also offer the ability to customize assortments based on their service area. In a large horse community, these stores will have an extensive equine department with a variety of feed, tack and specialty products. If you have customers who have started raising backyard chickens, the hardware and farm and fleet channel can not only bring in a catered assortment of poultry products, but also help educate the community about raising and keeping healthy chickens—not to mention carrying the chicks themselves.”

The farm channel is unique because stores can offer everything customers are looking for under one roof and at a competitive retail price, said Stelzl with Fleet Farm. “Farm stores surpass other channels by offering pet specialty store assortments along with mass retailer selection and prices. With our larger stores we can offer many other categories of goods, deep selections of many brands and products and carry products that are physically large, since we have outdoor and attached storage. Our stores also have automotive services, gas stations, car washes, and we recently opened our first free standing pet wash location.”

Under One Umbrella

Tractor Supply’s acquisition of pet retailer Petsense in 2016 has proven to be a fortuitous move in that the Tractor Supply Company now owns and operates more than 180 Petsense by Tractor Supply stores. The original acquisition was 136 Petsense stores.

The growth has been measured and strategic. “We look at our real estate portfolio collaboratively,” said Matthew Rubin, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Petsense by Tractor Supply. “We have good overlap between the two brands in most of the Petsense by Tractor Supply markets though there may be some distance between the stores within the markets. Often, Petsense by Tractor Supply stores are in the main retail thoroughfare of the town. Our co-tenancy with mass retail and/or grocery stores allows us to support the convenience shopper.”

Then Tractor Supply CEO Greg Sandfort said at the time of the acquisition the move is intended for the company to grow in pet specialty retail rather than fold it into the larger farm and fleet format. “We are excited about the addition of Petsense to the Tractor Supply family as we develop our pet specialty retail business. The pet industry represents a $60 billion market driven by favorable pet ownership trends and the continued humanization of pets by their owners. We believe the pet specialty industry is an attractive expansion opportunity and, with 136 stores across 25 states, we think Petsense is an excellent complement to our Tractor Supply retail operations.”

Since then, especially as Tractor Supply has abided by its growth strategy of celebrating the ‘Life Out Here’ lifestyle, companion animal has become its largest category, said Nicole Logan, Senior Vice President and General Merchandise Manager for Tractor Supply Company. “Tractor Supply is a lifestyle brand,” she said. “We cater to those who live ‘Life Out Here,’ and owning animals and pets is an integral part of that lifestyle. In fact, 75 percent of our customers have a pet, and 50 percent have more than one pet. Today, we are a leading supplier of pet products and food across America and companion animal is our largest category, representing more than 20 percent of our 2022 sales. We are very proud to be able to help our customers care for their pets and animals.”

Though Tractor Supply store footprints are large, they are finite, and it would be difficult to carry the assortment of pet supplies and services to cater to every type of pet owner and pet.

Rubin said, “The strength of having these two banners—Tractor Supply and Petsense by Tractor Supply—is that we get to serve the needs of a pet parent across a wide variety of brands and categories. In our Petsense by Tractor Supply locations we carry the ‘long tail’ assortment of brands that we also carry in Tractor Supply stores. However, we are also able to assort ‘pet specialty only’ brands for dogs and cats as well as support different species, including reptiles, aquatics and small animals. We also offer full-service grooming, bathing and training.”

Logan added, “Like Matthew said, while we do have some customer crossover, we also have unique shoppers with unique needs. Our assortment remains consistent with our strategy, which is to carry a range of products from mainstream value up to super premium, natural and science-based brands of pet food. Petsense by Tractor Supply complements our assortment where they lean heavier into very highend pet foods and broader assortments of accessories.”

Rubin explained the merchandising organization chart for both brands after the announcement of Petsense being rebranded to Petsense by Tractor Supply. “The things that are closest to the customer will remain separate and that’s done to ensure that we have that pet specialty experience, both for our suppliers and our customers, and our assortment is very complementary,” he said last fall. “The overlap is not significant—it’s much less than half in terms of SKUs – so, not to mention species because we’ll take care of reptiles and fish, and you can come in and get crickets for your geckos and your bearded dragons. So that, for us, is critical, is to maintain that differentiation in that pet specialty feel, but our merchants do work very closely together and pay attention to making sure from a marketing standpoint that our activities are on brand and that we’re able to deliver that complementary assortment to our customers.”

Instead, the rebranding was about welcoming more customers to the Tractor Supply brand, Rubin said. “The Tractor Supply brand is incredibly strong. We have more than 80 plus years of great customer service and taking care of communities that, frankly, in a lot of cases, had been underserved. That’s where Petsense stores are mostly located as well. We’re in those markets that are underserved by traditional pet specialty, and we want to be that hometown pet store with the reach and strength of a national retailer to make sure we’re able to convey value to our customers.”

To continue reading, visit: www. pet-insight.com.