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Amid the cattle feed, ride-on mowers, propane tanks and pet supplies, there’s a place for apparel at Tractor Supply Co. — and it’s growing.
The Brentwood, Tenn.-based Tractor Supply is striving for greater apparel market share by tapping influencers, pushing social media, forming partnerships, testing shops-in-shop, and in footwear and outerwear, stretching to some higher-priced products. The company is capitalizing on Western trends, like coastal cowgirl, workwear’s widening appeal as a fashion statement, and changing demographics and lifestyles as Americans flock from major cities to suburbia and countryfied settings.
The core of the apparel assortment remains functional and durable workwear, whether worn for fieldwork or just for the look. Yet there’s also an emerging layer of sprightly Western and coastal-cowgirl sportswear, footwear and accessories — specialty boots, denim, turquoise jewelry, flirty sundresses, embroidered halters and other trendy pieces.
“For our core customers, we provide a great value through top workwear brands as well as our own brands like Ridgecut and Blue Mountain, but apparel has also been a great door-opener for us with a younger, female customer who is discovering Tractor Supply and looking for Western-inspired and workwear apparel,” said Hal Lawton, president and chief executive officer of Tractor Supply. “The same is true for customers who have moved to more rural areas, and are embracing ‘life out here’ and seeking apparel appropriate for their evolving lifestyle.”
“Life out here” is the company’s catchphrase evoking suburban and rural settings, reflecting efforts to resonate with full-blown or gentleman farmers and ranchers, gardeners, and do-it-yourself types that Tractor Supply targets with its marketing and merchandising.
“Apparel is absolutely one the primary categories we are marketing in a meaningful way on social media, whether that would be Pinterest, TikTok or Instagram. Over the last 18 months, we have been pushing the apparel category harder,” Seth Estep, Tractor Supply’s executive vice president and chief merchandising officer, told WWD. “We’re not a fashion house. I’m just saying the trends of today are starting to rotate into what we call ‘life out here.’ Women’s apparel is a major area for growth right now. In men’s apparel, we way over index from a total business perspective.”
At Tractor Supply, often referred to as TSC, apparel accounted for just under 10 percent, or...