A Tribune staff, wire report Tractor Supply Co., the Wal-Mart of the agricultural world, is coming to Florida, including a store opening in Polk County this month and in the Tampa area by the end of 2001. The company plans grand openings of 10 Florida stores on June 24, including outlets in Lake Wales, Haines City, Avon Park and Sebring.
Most stores plan soft openings up to two weeks before the grand openings.
Soft openings with smaller numbers of shoppers allow stores to iron out problems before promotional campaigns bring in larger numbers of customers. Officials expect to open 30 to 50 stores statewide during the next three years - including the Tampa area. They will offer farmers and ranchers everything from livestock feed and tractor parts to Wrangler jeans and cow lifts. He said their disposable income is spent on tractors and farm supplies. They generally offer more than 15,000 different items, occupy less than 15,000 square feet and employ 12 to 20 people.