The National Black Farmers Association called on Tractor Supply’s president and CEO Tuesday to step down after the rural retailer announced that it would drop most of its corporate diversity and climate advocacy efforts.
The resignation demand emerged as Tractor Supply, which sells products ranging from farming equipment to pet supplies, faces a deepening backlash over its decision, which itself came after conservative activists spoke out against the company’s work to be more socially inclusive and to curb climate change.
In a public announcement last week, the company said it would eliminate all of its diversity, equity and inclusion roles, end sponsorships of “nonbusiness activities” like Pride festivals, and withdraw its goals for reducing carbon emissions. Critics of the new position argue that Tractor Supply is giving in to hate and harming its customers by abandoning crucial principles.
In many rural areas it’s not though. Tractor Supply might be the only feed store for miles, and I don’t mean go 5 miles to the next town. I mean it’s over a hundred to the next closest feed store, which happens to be another tractor supply.
Sounds like a good time to break their monopoly
Cool. Who plans to do that? Do you have the ability to open multiple stores in such areas?
Maybe they do, why so negative? Do you think breaking some hypothetical monopoly would be a bad thing or something? Is your last name Supply by chance?
Maybe they do, but they haven’t done it, have they? I know I can’t do it. Can you? It’s not ‘negative’ to know that it hasn’t been done and no one is doing it. It’s just a fact.
Is that your situation? I live pretty rural, but there’s a Walmart, Lowe’s, or home depot pretty much the same distance as tractor supply, and that’s probably the situation for most of the US. I also buy online. Mom and pop feed stores are all over the place.
For me, it’s real easy to go somewhere else.
Thinking about this more, I just don’t think it’s true. I can’t find a spot on Google maps where tractor supply is the only store for miles. In America, you can drive to many shitty corporations to buy stuff, no matter where in America you are.