Tractor Supply — the largest farm and ranch store chain in the U.S. — plans to close its Braselton distribution center, resulting in the loss of 170 area jobs.
The Tennessee-based company announced Monday that it has outgrown its leased facility on Ga. Hwy. 124 in Barrow County and plans to relocate its operations to Macon.
There, the company plans to build a 650,000-square-foot facility and bring 200 new jobs to Bibb County, according to The Telegraph of Macon. Tractor Supply plans to open its new distribution center by fall 2013 after investing an estimated $50 million in the project.
But in Braselton, the company will close its facility in December 2013. The company says the relocation to Macon will align Tractor Supply’s distribution model to better support its continued growth.
“Tractor Supply has been a member of the Braselton business community for many years, and we want to thank our business partners and customers for their loyalty and business during that time period,” said Gregory A. Sandfort, president and chief operating officer in a statement. “This was a business decision based on many factors, and it was not a reflection on the team or the community. We needed to have a physical building that could better support our growth requirements.”
Tractor Supply opened its Braselton distribution center about seven years ago in an area that also includes distribution centers for PetCo, The Home Depot and Havertys.
Tractor Supply’s 521,300-square-foot facility in Braselton is owned by the Joint Development Authority of Winder-Barrow County, according to tax records. In early 2011, the company started parking tractor-trailer trucks in a vacant lot across Ga. Hwy. 124 because of the lack of space.
The company is helping its Braselton team members find careers elsewhere with Tractor Supply, as well as offering relocation help and/or severance packages to those affected workers.
A spokesman for Tractor Supply said the company hasn’t determined the timing of potential phases to close the Braselton facility.
“It’s hard to speculate on the impact at this time due to the fact that the company is more than a year away from completion of the new facility, and we are unsure which and how many employees will elect to relocate,” said Rob Hoskins of Tractor Supply.
The Telegraph reported that Tractor Supply picked Bibb County because the company wanted to be closer to the Port of Savannah and closer to interstates. The state-of-the-art facility will be the second largest for the company.
Tractor Supply has more than 1,100 stores in 44 states and focuses on supplying the lifestyle needs of recreational farmers and ranchers, according to the company.
The news of the Braselton facility’s closing comes just three months after Home Depot announced it would shut its Jackson County distribution center by the end of the year, which will eliminate 300 jobs.
However, Carter’s is opening its new distribution center in Braselton (in the former Progressive Lighting building) this year. That venture is expected to bring 1,000 new jobs to the area by 2015. The baby and young children’s apparel company held its first job fair in May for 250 positions.
—Kerri Testement
Could we not compete with what Macon offered, given all the land that is available here? Did Macon offer more tax incentives to relocate?
DuWayne