o-t farm and fleet rant

[glennster]

needed a few odds and ends so i fgured i scoot up to the farm and fleet in montgomery il to pick up a few things. whoa, the ag department is gone, no hydraulic cylinder, no hoses, no plow shares, no chisel points, no disk blades, no tractor mufflers, tune up kits, carb kits, all gone, they dont carry it at that particular store anymore. they only had 2 5 gallon pails of hy-tran, and 3 pails of gear oil. i think they need to change the name to we-aint-got- it-anymore-mart.

 

[Anonymous-0]

What do they have? Lawn care equipment? Horsey Stuff, such as feed, halters and bridles? Clothing? Suburban stuff?

TRACTOR SUPPLY Co is also tending towards becoming just that as well. I Guess there are a LOT more suburban yuppie customers than real farmers, huh?

 

[Anonymous-0]

Yep noticed that this past week,looking for chisel plow points all that stuff was gone.they had them last year at this time. All gone with real farmer stuff.

 

[rrlund]

Trending toward it? The TSC here is totally worthless. Even the long time employees are disgusted with it. They are nothing but a glorified hardware and clothing store. The hardware store here in town has more in the way of bearings and parts than Tough Sh*t Charlie. I remember the day when we had to go all the way to Grand Rapids or Lansing to get to one,but we got all of our overhaul kits,tractor tires,the works from them.

 

[Anonymous-0]

That's 'cause it's Montgomery! My brother used to live there, and I didn't see too many farms, or even "farms." I'm sure the F+F out here to the west is headed in the same direction though : (

 

[Anonymous-0]

we are finding the same thing here in australia, no one carrys anything anymore, even the john deere dealers are catering more for the town people carrying toys, clothes, mowers etc. ther seems to be money in all the wrong areas here. the farm,ing sector is second grade now. i get annoyed about it too, but when it comes down to it the townies have more money than the farmers and the dealers shops etc are going with the oney to survive. fair gives you the sh/ts though .

 

[tractormiallis]

Yep, the local TSC in Cedar Springs is worthless. Ordering parts there is a joke, dont keep things restocked anymore. There is a new store called Farm and Home now on Plainfield by Grand Rapids that is much better for parts and AG stuff.

 

[Walt Davies]

So far so good out here we have two big local chains that carry a lot of farm stuff but every time I go in I see the Yuppie section getting bigger and bigger.
Walt

 

[Dave from MN]

Here in central MN, Mills Fleet farm is doing real good. In fact it seems they are expanding the ag stuff they carry. Getting real well organized also. If they sold beer and milk, I would never have to shop anywhere else.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Mark, you don't live down near Melbourne, do you?

 

[John S-B]

It ought to Horse, Yuppie Supply Co.

 

[Dave H (MI)]

Closed up and liquidated here about five years back. Only thing left is TSC and that is pretty much useless. I have started using on-line suppliers and maintain my own small inventory of stuff that needs frequent replacement. When something gets low...we reorder.

 

[Dairy Farmer in WI]

It"s the opposite here. we have a farm and home near me and now they carry hardly any farm stuff. teh rest is all crafty SH**. TSC is all Right but they drove the loacl farm and Fleet outta busness. DOn"t balme them, farm and fleet was expensive anyway. even when stuff was on sale it was cheaper to go to TSC! only good places anymore are 50 or better miles away and that"s hudson! Fleet farm is far better
Just venting
DF in WI

 

[Dick L]

We have a Rural King that is cheaper on a lot of thing than Walmart. Rural Kiing is bigger on animal supplies that machinery parts. they still are better than the TSC on the other side of the lot. Free Coffee and Popcorn as well. I drop Dixie off at Walmart and spend an hour at Rural King.

 

[rrlund]

The one in Greenville has the same owner. The woman who used to be in charge of the warehouse told me a few years ago,she isn't even allowed to order anything from the company itself. The only way she can get anything they don't have is if another store that they own (5 of them I think) has it in stock. There's a place in Alma,don't remember the name of it,has a lot more ag stuff in stock. Course there's always Fowlers Farm City in Ithica. Just have to blow off the dust to see what is under it.

 

[1936]

Only thing growning with in 50 miles of that store is 5 bed room houses. The few farms left are instant K 401 retirement plans. F & F store prices have really jumped up in the last two years. Large line of wood working tools and cloths.

 

[Anonymous-0]

I work at one here in new york. We carry the very basics, carb kits, mufflers etc, but your in luck if you have a 8N, we have a few more parts then normal for them..in stock! Wow! what an idea. Half the time theres only 1 or 2 of any given thing on a peg or shelf at a time. Special order parts? Sure we can get alot of things from herschel-adams, but after you waste a bunch of time and pay tsc's markup, why bother? I can order it off the 'net and it arrives at my house, not at the store where one of our friendly team members will forget to call you. Its also nice to see that 90% of our merchandise is from china, from an "American Farm Store"
Maybe I oughta looking for a different job..
Just venting..Thanks.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Whenever we went to the Mayo Clinic we would stop at Mills fleet Farm. That is one really nice store. Our Farm and Fleet is pretty good but it is just a little brother to yours.
SDE

 

[730 virgil]

i am half between 2 farm & fleet stores. 1 is bad and the other is getting there fast.
a long time employee told me after 2nd generation
blaines have taken over store has became all about the owners bank book.
won't hire full time help cut them back on bennys
and cut back on number of people working at one time.
it is hard to find anyone if you need help finding something and when you do find someone they often aren't much help as they just started.
they have cut back on inventory in stores. i have heard so it's on order but we have no idea of what is coming on truck until we unload truck so often i could scream.

 

[1936]

Them those Harvard MBA's havi'n youngin's doing strange thinking. Possible single malt.

 

[rrlund]

I'm amazed you're still there. My son worked at the local TSC four years ago. After 5 months,the district manager came in and fired him. Too ambitious and making managment look bad. A lot of people in the community and some of the long time employees were pis*ed. The two people who are still there who worked with him ask about him all the time.Say the yoyos they have shlepping around there now are worthless.

 

[BLinWMI]

Wow, sounds like we hit the same shopping spots. There is barely a day goes by that I don't run into Cedar for something at TSC, somedays it is just the hardware in Sparta. I was amazed to find the Farm and Home on the north end of the mall on Plainfield. They must not advertise much. I like going there just to give them business to encourage a farm store being around in town. I know West Michigan has a couple of Farm and Home stores that used to be Quality stores, like Wayland and St Joe. Only seen one Big R and that was way down in Niles just a half mile from the state line.

 

[Anonymous-0]

david in missourie. live up queensland way in the dalby area. dont know about melbourne, but brisbane is just a totally different mentality to out here. even in toowoomba they are in a different world. the gaps getting wider between them and us. when cotton was good it kept things going a bit, but since its been down and with the drought everthings just folding up hey.

 

[Don-Wi]

We've got the Mother store here and it's HUGE. The ag department isn't really any bigger than it was in the old store, but they've still got a great selection. Lots of Horse stuff too, but you'll have that. Beats TSC any day- and TSC is closer.... I think you could fit 6-8 Normal TSC's in there, if not more too...

Donovan from Wisconsin