WTN Homestead Hardware chain to sell to Tractor Supply

[Rural King 1]

Homestead Hardware who operate three stores, two in NWTN -Union City and Dyersburg-, and one in Middle Tennessee in Franklin, has decided the time is right to sell off its business to Tractor Supply of Brentwood. The sell will mark the end of a regional store that has marked a significant prescence in Union City, and probably in Dyersburg as well. In a time where both Union City and Dyersburg now have Lowes it may have been only a matter of time before the company was sold. I'm sure the time to sell would never get any better for the owners, and that Tractor Supply (as stated by the owners as well) will offer a more secure employment future for the employees of these stores.

I guess this is just another sign that local stores and chains are being squeezed hard by the national retailers. It seems that Homestead in Union City still does well, but it probably could not in the long run hope to compete with a store like Lowes, surely true in the other locations as well. The stores will remain open though under Tractor Supply, so this is not a bad news story, more of a story to report the changing face of small town America in West Tennessee and to report the emergence of a new big name competitor to these markets.

Article from the Union City Messenger:

http://www.ucmessenger.com/295956510247145.bsp