Past Farm Store Chains

[NY 986]

I'm thinking that I might have met your wife. I recall a woman with a similar background training here in New York. Been long enough ago that I don't remember any details.

 

[Leroy]

I don't know the early history as we only found out about the Ohio stores just a couple of weeks before She went to work for them. I knew Quality before that Time and they were aimed at the fleet side of the bussiness and not the farm side. I knew about the Fleet side before I head of CT being in Ohio. Went in to buy farm items and nothing for that side of the name. I knew their brand of paint was junk from what I had bought. Later when She was working for Quality when she was starting to order items from wearhouse that she was told were in stock that customers ordered never was shipped. I was one of those that had parts ordeded and never was shiped, think they did not have what they said they had. I had used CT paint and it was good, when Other smaller things I do not rember as that was about 25 years ago. I had used QF paint amd knew it was junk and CT paint I had used was good. Merger came all CT paint was taken off the shelf and replaced with QF paint.As for other companys buying some stores that never came down to employes only TSC as buyer for $5,000 bigger bid than the orignal owners of CT could come up with so TSC got the stores to close. And they did. As soon as they could empty one TSC moved out of the smaller store across the street into the CT store and there since. Only knew of 3 CT stores here in Ohio. Possibly more in other parts of state. Only one QF&F store here in Ohio.

 

[Leroy]

She never had to go to New York

 

[Leroy]

She had worked at other type of stores as manager, just not a Farm Store and was a city girl when we got married in 1978 but too to farm very easy.

 

[Leroy]

I don't think your Farm Fleet stores were in any way connected to QUALITY Farm And Fleet, 2 different names.

 

[Leroy]

Big Bear was a grocery and clothing store here in Ohio

 

[Leroy]

Too many names with only different parts of one name and not connected in any way.

 

[timcasbolt]

I was a big fan of Central Tractor. Had several around my area. One was less than 20 miles and on the way home from work with a small detour. The products were much higher quality, lower prices, and terrific support from the store manager and the catalog. Need a good head for an F-12? Take about a week.They used to put out a flyer in the Sunday paper. Welding rod was $1 a pound at least once a month.

Tractor Supply did seem to copy one thing about Central Tractor: The store manager knows what he's doing, and will make it right if you buy something that turns out to be bad.

 

[Keith True]

I need to add,the elevators were not for farmers to bring their product into,but to hold the feed that was unloaded of the rail cars to sell.They mixed and bagged it there.There were some men around town that would get called out when the rail cars were sidelined there to be unloaded.They would run hand shovels if the bulk was being augered off the cars,and manually unload and stack the bags if it was bagged product.This always took place at night because they all worked day jobs.

 

[steve_in_mo]

Confusing. So apparently the sporting goods store went bankrupt.

 

[Timmycornpicker]

Here in New Jersey there were GLF locations up and down the state. Some were feed mills, some were grain elevators with feed mills, and others were just warehouses, but they all had a farm store attached. Agway took them over and operated them for a long time, but most had closed by the mid 2000s. I'm not sure if there even are any Agway locations left.

 

[Olyj1947]

We had a 'Little Bear' and had something to do with the square footage of the building being too small to be a Big Bear.
Both are gone now,

 

[RGMartin]

There was probably 20 QF+F stores in Ohio. I worked at several of them.

The CTs that came to mind were Ravenna, and Salem


The company that rose from the ashes but is in no way related is Family Farm and Home.

 

[4520BW]

Yes the sporting good store offered a higher lease and about a month after orchlen left they filed bankruptcy. Hey but we did get a harbor freight and some called ollies that looks like a dirty big lots.

 

[Keith True]

We still have lots of Agway stores in N.H.They have rolled with the times,and are now more landscaping-hobby farmer supply.My wife had a gardening business for 20 years,and the local Agway was her main supplier.

 

[NDIHC]

In Bismarck/Mandan ND we used to have Sandvig's stores. They eventually became Runnings stores. In between they were called Country General and maybe some others that I don't remember. They switched back and forth between a couple of names a couple of times before the Runnings name stuck. In my hometown near Bismarck we used to have a Farm and Home Supply. There's still one in Bismarck. A little more of a family owned type of store than Runnings or TSC. More ag oriented too.

 

[Stoneman44]

We had a CT Farn & Country here in Bedford for about a year, and a Tractor Supply that ended up closing. At the time we had a Big Blue and the local Feed/Farm Supply Stores. Orscheln moved in to take over Big Blue, and about that same time, the current Tractor Supply opened. We now have a Rural King which pretty much dominates our area.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

Thought of another one: AGWAY.