Tractor Supply Company one step closer to reality in Oxford

A Tractor Supply Company location could start construction within the year in Oxford after the city approved an ordinance to allow a conditional use of the property near Walmart.

MSP Properties first applied for a conditional use permit to build a Tractor Supply Company store at 5728 College Corner Pike at the end of February. After the site made it through the planning commission in May, it went up to city council.

Tractor Supply Company stores sell a wide variety of products from tools and equipment to livestock supplies. The closest of the company's more than 2,000 locations is currently at 1372 Main St. in Hamilton, roughly 10 miles from Uptown Oxford.

Community Development Director Sam Perry said the store location only needed approval from city council because then it will be more than 15,000 square feet, the current limit for buildings in general business zones. Otherwise, he said it's the perfect location for this type of business. Over time, he hopes the area around Route 27 continues to develop.

"We would like to see development happen through there, but at the same time we aren't driving that," Perry said. "It's privately owned."

To help offer incentives for future development, Perry said the city has hired a firm to work on an economic development strategic plan. In a couple years, Perry said that strategic plan could lead to new incentives for businesses to open locations in Oxford.

A representative for Tractor Supply Company said the business is still in the process of securing permitting for the new location. Construction could start "as soon as Fall 2024, with the store opening as early as Spring 2025," the representative said, though the exact timing is subject to change.

Perry said the company still has a few more steps to get through with the city before it can break ground. The land the company plans to use is currently part of a larger property which needs to be subdivided before development can begin, a process which requires city council approval through an ordinance that must be read at two meetings.

"It's going to be a while yet," Perry said. "I would think something more along the lines of winter, late fall [or] early winter at the earliest, depending on the weather."

Jennifer Bayne of 7 Wonders Farm, based in Somerville, said she goes to the Tractor Supply Company in Hamilton a few times a year. When the new location opens in Oxford, she said she may go there since it will be a few minutes closer, though generally she goes to Brubaker Grain Inc. in Collinsville because it's locally owned.

"Usually [when I shop at Tractor Supply] it's something that I would get from Brubakers, and it's a weekend and Brubaker's is closed," Bayne said.

The new Tractor Supply location will be right next to Koenig Equipment, which sells new and used John Deere equipment. A manager for the store said he doesn't anticipate much impact or overlap in business.