Major pet store closing 75 locations nationwide, slowing expansion

A major rural lifestyle retailer is closing dozens of pet stores in its portfolio around the country as it reevaluates both its existing footprint and growth plans. Tractor Supply released its latest earnings report last week and revealed plans to close 75 Petsense locations around the country. The company said in its release that as of late June, there were 209 Petsense by Tractor Supply stores across 23 states. "Following a disciplined review of Petsense, we've decided to close approximately 75 underperforming stores. We believe these actions will improve returns, simplify the business, and allow us to direct resources towards higher growth, higher return opportunities," said CEO Hal Lawton on the earnings call. Lawton noted that the Petsense locations that are closing were negative four-wall cash flow, meaning that those stores' sales weren't enough to cover costs that are local to individual stores, such as rent, labor and inventory. Stemming the losses from those locations will allow the company to reinvest funds back into the core of the business, he added. Lawton also said that after the closures, he thinks the company will "have a very strong, profitable Petsense business," and that it will work well within the company's broader pet ecosystem that includes Allivet and VIP Petcare. He also emphasized that the company doesn't view the changes with Petsense as affecting the reacceleration of pet products within the core Tractor Supply business, which isn't directly connected to Petsense. Tractor Supply CFO Kurt Barton said on the call that the "strategic repositioning of Petsense is expected to create a healthier, more profitable business that better complements our Tractor Supply stores and strengthens our ability to serve pet customers across our integrated pet ecosystem." Tractor Supply said that its closure of 75 Petsense locations won't affect its other pet-oriented initiatives. Lawton also said that Tractor Supply plans to open dozens of new stores in 2027, though the total number is expected to be approximately 85 to 90 stores as opposed to the company's previous expectation of opening 100 new stores. Funds saved from the pared-back store opening plans will be redeployed toward initiatives like remodels under Project Fusion, which aims to improve the performance of Tractor Supply's existing store base.