Tractor Supply store set to make its debut in Pahrump

The first Tractor Supply Co. retail store in Southern Nevada, under construction in Pahrump, is on schedule to make its debut this week.

Mark Slingerland, the store manager at the new location, said the more than 19,000-square-foot space, built for the rural farmer, is on track for a soft opening on Oct. 28, with a grand opening celebration planned in November.

“We carry everything you need for that process,” said Slingerland, as he walked through the hundreds of items still waiting to be placed on the shelves of the new retail store at 900 E. Highway 372, which sits on the southwest corner of South Bolling Road and Highway 372.

By Saturday, he expects the shelves to be lined with several types of chicken feed, horse products and other things like tractor tires and a large selection of bolts.

Slingerland has been putting in long hours, alongside his staff of about 13, to meet the target.

Tractor Supply, a big box retailer, has 1,600 stores across the country, but each is set up to fit into its geographic region.

Slingerland gave an example with its horse products it will be offering at the Pahrump location.

“We have horses here, but we don’t have a great deal of horses (in Pahrump),” he said.

In turn, the local Tractor Supply will still offer all its horse products but not in a large quantity, he said.

The Pahrump Tractor Supply will also offer many livestock and other animal products and supplies. One of the big things for Tractor Supply is the offering of animal feeds.

Slingerland said the store will have organic and non-organic offerings for chicken feed, including its in-house brand, DuMOR, along with Purina and others.

The store will also offer live baby chicks a couple of times a year, Slingerland said.

Slingerland estimated that would happen around February to March next year, and shoppers could make special requests for certain breeds such as Rhode Island Reds, he said.

Customers can order up to 25 at a time, he added.

Special orders can also be made online from Tractor Supply’s website at tractorsupply.com, which can be shipped to the local store or their home.

“If they go online, they can order it and usually takes about a week, less than a week,” he said.

Ordering to the store can sometimes take a bit longer because they have to go through the chain, he said.

The store also has layaway options and rain checks.

Slingerland said there’s been a lot of support from the local community so far on the new location opening.

“We’ve got a really good community here,” he said. “We’re getting a lot of support from the community, which is nice.”

Slingerland, who transferred from Yucca Valley, California, said many community groups will be heading out for the grand opening celebration on Nov. 11 at the Tractor Supply in Pahrump.

The 4-H Club is going to be serving hot dogs and roughly more than a dozen booths will hold other groups from around the community.

“If everything goes like it’s supposed to, we should be open by then (Nov. 11),” he said. “We’re planning on a ribbon-cutting ceremony…”

That celebration will be held during normal business hours from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.

The Pahrump store is the first in Southern Nevada, but the third in the state.

Tractor entered the Nevada market in 2013, with the opening of a location in Carson City. The company later opened another location in Minden, also in Northern Nevada.

In total, Tractor Supply has over 1,600 locations in every state but Alaska and employs roughly 24,000 team members, according to a news release in January 2017.

The number of Tractor Supply store openings was down in a year-over-year analysis.

According to information from a Securities and Exchange Commission filing released in August, Tractor Supply opened 38 new stores, closing three, through July 1, 2017 for its fiscal six-month period. In 2016, Tractor Supply opened 58 new stores and closed four for its fiscal six-month period that ended June 25, 2016.

Despite not growing as quickly, Tractor Supply still had a net positive of nearly 2.2 percent in the number of stores it added to its portfolio.

The hours of operation at the new Tractor Supply store are 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and on Sunday, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

For more information, contact the local store at 775-727-1500, which is on track to have its soft opening on Oct. 28.

Contact business reporter Jeffrey Meehan at jmeehan@pvimes.com