July 25, 2008 | By Will Ashworth What do you get when you combine a store that sells brand-name coveralls and cowboy hats, with a store that sells livestock feed and tractor parts? The J.C. Penney of the pig pen, Tractor Supply Company (Nasdaq:TSCO). Tractor Supply Company is the largest operator of retail stores for the recreational farmer in the United States. Located in rural towns and the exurbs of major towns, this Tennessee-based company started out in 1938 in Chicago as a mail-order tractor parts business, then morphing into a retail store in Minot, North Dakota. As their literature points out, "Tractor Supply supports a lifestyle". From Obscurity to Market Darling and Back Again In 2002, Tractor Supply bought competitor Quality Stores out of bankruptcy. For the next four years, it could do no wrong, hitting a share...
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