One small town in the CSRA is getting a big upgrade.
A Tractor Supply Company is coming to Sylvania. The national home improvement retail chain is to set up shop at Sylvania Station, a shopping center at 1129 Ogeechee Road. The city manager, Stacy Mathis, signed off on the site plans in November, solidifying a deal nearly two years in the making.
“They’ve been looking in this area for probably about a year and a half,” said Alex Hansbarger, the agent with Sherman & Hemstreet Real Estate Co., who brokered the deal. “It took about a year to really get the negotiation down.”
Tractor Supply Company was founded in Minot, N.D. in 1938 and is currently headquartered in Brentwood, Tenn. Its upcoming Sylvania store is part of an overall plan to open roughly 20 new locations throughout the Southeast, where most of its more than 2,000 U.S. shops are concentrated, including over 80 in Georgia.
Those who live closer to Augusta would likely be familiar with its store on Bobby Jones Highway, as well as those in Thomson, Waynesboro and, on the other side of the river, in North Augusta and Aiken.
The 20,000-square foot anchor store space where Tractor Supply is to install had housed Goody’s department store before closing in 2020. The store was going to be replaced by Gordmans, a retailer based in Omaha, Neb.; but Stage Stores, the company that once owned both brands, went bankrupt that same year.
The farm equipment retailer has also looked for suitable locations in Statesboro and Rincon before settling on Sylvania.
Mathis notes that while the rural community of Sylvania supports its smaller businesses, a national chain choosing the town for its new site is a step in the positive direction.
“To see the growth coming towards us enough that Tractor Supply would want to invest in our community, I think that just tells us that we are growing as a small town and our numbers are improving,” Mathis said.
Hansburger said the Tractor Supply Company aims to open at the new location in Sylvania by early summer 2023.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter covering business for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
