Item 1. . Business

Overview

Tractor Supply Company (the “Company” or "Tractor Supply" or “we” or “our” or “us”) is the largest rural lifestyle retailer in the United States (“U.S.”). The Company is focused on supplying the needs of recreational farmers, ranchers, and all those who enjoy living the rural lifestyle (which we refer to as the “Out Here” lifestyle). We operate retail stores under the names Tractor Supply Company, Petsense, and Del’s Feed & Farm Supply. Our stores are located primarily in towns outlying major metropolitan markets and in rural communities. We also offer an expanded assortment of products through the Tractor Supply mobile application and online at TractorSupply.com and Petsense.com.

The Company has one reportable industry segment which is the retail sale of products that support the rural lifestyle. At December 25, 2021, we operated 2,181 retail stores in 49 states (2,003 Tractor Supply and Del’s retail stores and 178 Petsense retail stores). Our Tractor Supply stores typically range in size from 15,000 to 20,000 square feet of inside selling space, along with additional outside selling space, and our Petsense stores have approximately 5,500 square feet of inside selling space. For Tractor Supply retail locations, we use a standard design for most new built-to-suit locations that includes approximately 15,500 square feet of inside selling space. Our online selling websites and our mobile application offer an extended assortment of products beyond those offered in-store and drive traffic into our stores through our buy online and pickup in-store and ship to store programs. Our retail store locations and digital capabilities provide the convenience to allow our customers to engage with us anytime, anywhere and in any way they choose.

On February 17, 2021, the Company announced that it entered into an agreement to acquire all of the outstanding equity interests of Orscheln Farm and Home, LLC, a farm and ranch retailer with 167 retail stores in 11 states, in an all-cash transaction for approximately $320 million. The Company intends to fund the acquisition through cash-on-hand. The acquisition is conditioned on the receipt of regulatory clearance and the satisfactory completion of customary closing conditions within a specified timeframe.

Business Strategy for Tractor Supply Company

We believe our sales and earnings growth is the result of executing our multi-year strategy, which includes the following key components:

Market Niche

We have identified a specialized market niche: supplying the lifestyle needs of recreational farmers, ranchers, and all those who enjoy living the rural lifestyle. By focusing our product assortment on these core customers, we believe we are differentiated from general merchandise, home center, and other specialty retailers. We cater to the rural lifestyle and often serve a market by being a trip consolidator for many basic maintenance needs for farm, ranch, and rural customers through convenient shopping options both in-store and online.

Customers

Our target customers are home, land, pet, and livestock owners who generally have above average income and below average cost of living. We seek to serve a customer base that primarily lives in towns outlying major metropolitan markets and in rural communities. This customer base includes recreational farmers, ranchers, and all those who enjoy living the rural lifestyle. We have seen a continuation of shifting consumer behavior trends due to the COVID-19 pandemic as customers focused on the care of their homes, land, and animals, which resulted in a growing demand in everyday merchandise, including consumable, usable, and edible ("C.U.E.") products and seasonal categories.

Customer Service

We are committed to providing our customers reliable product availability and a convenient, customer-centric experience across shopping channels. In our stores, we believe the ability of our motivated, well-trained team members to provide friendly, responsive and seasoned advice helps our customers find the right products to satisfy their everyday needs, as well as the specialty items needed to complete their rural lifestyle projects. We also engage with our customers through our e-commerce websites and mobile application, which provide the opportunity to allow customers to shop anytime, anywhere, and in any way

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they choose, while delivering enhanced product information, research, and decision tools that support product selection and informational needs in specific subject areas. Additionally, we maintain a Customer Solutions Center at our Store Support Center located in Brentwood, Tennessee, to support our in-store and online customers, as well as our store team members. We believe this commitment to customer service promotes strong customer loyalty through personalized experiences and provides convenience that our customers expect, which drives repeat shopping experiences.

We use a third-party provider to survey and measure our level of customer service. This process allows customers to provide feedback on their shopping experience. Based on the third-party provider’s data, we believe our customer satisfaction scores are among the best-in-class. We carefully evaluate the feedback we receive from our customers and implement improvements at both the Company and the individual store level based on that feedback.

Store Environment

Our stores are designed and managed to make shopping an enjoyable experience and to maximize sales and operating efficiencies. Stores are strategically arranged to provide an open environment for optimal product placement and visual display. In addition, these layouts allow for departmental space to be easily reallocated and visual displays to be changed for seasonal products and promotions. Display and product placement information is routinely sent to stores to ensure quality and uniformity among the stores, and our Field Activity Support Teams ("FAST") are dedicated to support the stores in creating an enhanced in-store experience for our customers through best-in-class merchandising execution. Our store layouts and visual displays are designed to provide our customers a feeling of familiarity and convenience to enhance the shopping experience. Informative signs are located in key product categories to conveniently assist customers with purchasing decisions and merchandise location. These signs provide customers with a comparison of product qualities, clear pricing, useful information regarding product benefits, and suggestions for appropriate accessories. Also, our store team members wear highly visible red vests or aprons with name tags, and our customer service and checkout counters are conveniently located near the front of the store. Our stores have been equipped with tools such as team member communication devices, wireless internet, and mobile point-of-sale devices that enable our team members to provide an enhanced shopping experience to our customers. In addition, our buy online and pickup in-store and ship to store programs, including curbside pickup, provides convenient access for customers to pick up merchandise from our store locations.

We are in the midst of a multi-year project that began in 2020 to remodel our existing store base, bringing programs to life with new fixtures, layouts and products that truly enhance the customer shopping experience. The site level space is analyzed category by category and reallocated as needed to align with current merchandising strategies and to drive space productivity. Another space productivity initiative is to transform our side lot with an expanded product offering and an enhanced shopping experience. With this investment, the side lots space is leveraged to offer a wider product offering in the lawn and garden categories and our new categories with the garden center, and offer greater convenience through the expansion of our buy online and pickup in-store and ship to store capabilities for drive-thru pickup.

Merchandising and Purchasing

We offer an extensive assortment of products for all those seeking to enjoy the “Out Here” lifestyle. Our product assortment is tailored to meet the needs of our customers in various geographic markets. Our full line of product offerings includes a broad selection of high quality, reputable brand name and exclusive brand products with approximately 16,000 to 22,000 products per store as well as over 170,000 products online. No single product accounted for more than 10% of our sales during fiscal 2021. Our comprehensive selection of merchandise is comprised of the following major product categories:

• Equine, livestock, pet, and small animal products, including items necessary for their health, care, growth, and containment (i.e. fencing);

• Hardware, truck, towing, and tool products;

• Seasonal products, including heating, lawn and garden items, power equipment, gifts, and toys;

• Work/recreational clothing and footwear; and

• Maintenance products for agricultural and rural use.

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The following table indicates the percentage of net sales represented by each of our major product categories during fiscal 2021, 2020, and 2019:

			Percent of Net Sales
			Fiscal Year
Product Category:			2021						2020						2019
Livestock and Pet			47		%				47		%				47		%
Hardware, Tools and Truck			21						21						21
Seasonal, Gift and Toy Products			21						21						20
Clothing and Footwear			8						7						8
Agriculture			3						4						4
Total			100		%				100		%				100		%

Our buying team continuously reviews and updates our product assortment as necessary to respond to customer needs and to offer new, relevant products. We are focused on providing key products that our customers use on a regular basis for their lifestyle and maintenance needs with emphasis on consumable, usable, and edible ("C.U.E.") products. Examples of C.U.E. product categories include, but are not limited to, livestock feed and bedding, pet food, bird seed, lubricants, propane, and various seasonal products, such as fertilizer, weed control, mulch, pest control, and twine.

Our products are sourced through both domestic and international vendors, each of whom are expected to adhere to a code of conduct that guides our relationship. Our business is not dependent upon any single vendor or particular group of vendors. We purchase our products from a group of approximately 975 vendors, with no one vendor representing more than 10% of our purchases during fiscal 2021. Approximately 375 core vendors accounted for 90% of our merchandise purchases during fiscal 2021. Although the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the fluctuation of customer demands for certain products as well as global supply chain disruptions and delays, we have not experienced any significant difficulty in obtaining satisfactory alternative sources of supply for our products to meet customer demands. We believe that adequate sources of supply exist, but they may cost more or require us to incur higher transportation costs.

Our buying teams focus on merchandise procurement, vendor line reviews, and testing of new products and programs. We also employ a dedicated inventory management team that focuses exclusively on forecasting and inventory replenishment, a committed merchandise planning team that concentrates on assortment planning, and a specialized pricing team that seeks to optimize market-specific pricing for our products. Through the combined efforts of these teams, we continue to focus on improving our overall inventory productivity and in-stock inventory position.

Intellectual Property

Our subsidiary, Tractor Supply Co. of Texas, LP (“TSCT”), owns registrations with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) for various service marks including TSC®, Tractor Supply Co.®, TSC Tractor Supply Co.®, and the trapezium design for retail services. We consider these service marks, and the accompanying goodwill and name recognition, to be valuable assets of our business. TSCT also owns several other service marks for retail services, some of which have been registered with the USPTO and some of which are the subject of applications for registration pending before the USPTO.

In addition to selling products that bear nationally-known manufacturer brands, we also sell products manufactured for us under a number of exclusive brands that we consider to be important to our business. These exclusive brands are manufactured for us by a number of vendors and provide an alternative to the national brands, which helps provide value for our customers and positions us as a destination retailer.

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Our exclusive brands represented approximately 29% of our total sales in fiscal 2021 and 2020 and 31% of our total sales in fiscal 2019. Our exclusive brands include:

4health® (pet foods and supplies)			Producer’s Pride® (livestock and horse feed and supplies)
American Farmworks® (livestock, farm and ranch			Red Shed® (gifts, collectibles, and outdoor furniture)
equipment)
Bit & Bridle® (apparel and footwear)			Redstone® (heating products)
Blue Mountain® (apparel)			Retriever® (pet foods and supplies)
C.E. Schmidt® (apparel and footwear)			Ridgecut® (apparel)
Countyline® (livestock, farm and ranch equipment)			Royal Wing® (bird feed and supplies)
Dumor® (livestock and horse feed and supplies)			Strive® (pet food)
Groundwork® (lawn and garden supplies)			Traveller® (truck and automotive products)
Huskee® (outdoor power equipment)			Treeline® (hunting gear and accessories)
JobSmart® (tools)			TSC Tractor Supply Co® (trailers, truck tool boxes, and animal
			bedding)
Paws & Claws® (pet foods and supplies)			Untamed® (pet foods)

The exclusive brands identified above have been registered as trademarks with the USPTO for certain products and some are the subject of additional applications for registration pending before the USPTO for other products.

Our trademark and service mark registrations have various expiration dates; however, provided that we continue to use the marks and file appropriate maintenance and renewal documentation with the USPTO in a timely manner, the registrations are potentially perpetual in duration. Our patents (both United States and foreign) have expiration dates ranging from March 2024 to December 2045 and protect various elements, designs or functions of farm and ranch equipment, as well as light systems for trucks and other vehicles.

We believe our intellectual property, which includes the trademarks and service marks identified above, together with certain trade names, domain names, patents, and copyrights, has significant value and is an important component of our merchandising and marketing strategies.

Distribution

We currently operate a distribution facility network for supplying stores with merchandise and delivering product ordered through our websites and mobile application. In fiscal 2021, our Tractor Supply stores received approximately 76% of merchandise through this network while the remaining merchandise shipped directly from our vendors to our stores or customers. We believe this flow facilitates the prompt and efficient distribution of merchandise that allows us to be a dependable supplier to our customers for their "Out Here" lifestyle solutions by enhancing in-stock inventory positions, while minimizing freight expense and improving the inventory turn rate. Our distribution facilities, located in Arizona, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Nebraska, New York, Texas, and Washington represent a total distribution center capacity of 6.1 million square feet. We also use third-party operated import centers, mixing centers and pop-up distribution facilities which provide additional distribution capacity.

The Company is building a new distribution center in Navarre, Ohio, which is expected to be approximately 900,000 square feet and is currently anticipated to be completed in the fall of fiscal 2022.

In addition, on January 26, 2022, the Company announced plans to build a new distribution center in Maumelle, Arkansas. This new distribution center is expected to be approximately 900,000 square feet. Construction is planned to begin in the middle of 2022 and is currently anticipated to be completed in late 2023.

We select the locations of our distribution facilities in an effort to minimize logistics costs and optimize the distance from distribution facilities to our stores. Our distribution centers utilize warehouse and labor management tools that support the planning, control, and processing of inventory. We manage our inbound and outbound transportation activity in-house through the use of a transportation management system. We utilize multiple common carriers for store and direct to customer

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deliveries. We manage our transportation costs through carrier negotiations, monitoring of transportation routes, and scheduling of deliveries.

Marketing

We utilize an “everyday low price” philosophy to consistently offer our products at competitive prices complemented by strategically planned promotions throughout the year. To drive store traffic and position ourselves as a destination retailer, we promote a broad selection of merchandise through various digital and social media initiatives, television, newspaper circulars, and customer-targeted direct e-mail and direct mail, as well as limited use of radio and other media channels. In addition, our Neighbor’s Club loyalty program enhances our ability to engage with our customers, recognize and reward our best customers, drive desired behaviors, and create brand advocacy. Vendors frequently support these specific programs by offering temporary cost reductions, additional funding, and honoring coupons. Our vendors also provide assistance with product presentation and fixture design, brochures, support for in-store events, point-of-purchase materials for customer education, and product knowledge for our team members.

Omni-Channel

Ensuring that our customers can engage with us in the most convenient manner for them whether in our stores, on our website, on our mobile application, or via our Customer Solutions Center, is a high priority for us. Our goal is to be available anytime, anywhere, and in any way our customers choose to engage with our brand. We provide our customers the opportunity to shop in a manner that fits their lifestyle and is most convenient for them. Our focus is on delivering a comprehensive, seamless omni-channel shopping experience offering the conveniences our customers want and expect. We offer buy online, pickup in-store, and curbside pickup, which provides convenient access for customers to pick up merchandise from our store locations. Additionally, our online experience offers an expansive product assortment including a direct to consumer assortment. This allows us to extend our aisles beyond our store locations and provides convenient and useful content that is relevant to our customers’ lifestyle. We provide our customers the ability to have products shipped directly to our retail store locations or to their homes or offices. For select products, we offer same day delivery. We use our distribution facility network as well as our stores to support our e-commerce activities. Our digital capabilities have further enhanced our in-store shopping experience, allowing us to engage with our customers more effectively, and expanded our target markets outside of our current retail store locations.

Continuous Improvement

We are committed to a continuous improvement program to drive change throughout our organization. Using data analytics and team member engagement, we examine business processes and identify opportunities to reduce costs, drive innovation, and improve effectiveness. We establish goals for productivity and cost improvement. We have implemented numerous continuous improvement projects, with team members from multiple areas of our business, to evaluate key operations and implement process change. Team members are empowered and expected to challenge current paradigms and improve processes. Management encourages the participation of all team members in the decision-making process, regularly solicits input and suggestions from our team members, and incorporates suggestions into our improvement activities.

Management Information and Control Systems

We have invested resources in management information and control systems to provide legendary customer service and to deliver the right products in the right place at the right time. This investment includes use of digital technologies that support the "Out Here" lifestyle and integrate the customer experience in-store, online, and through our Customer Solutions Center, which offers customers the ability to shop anytime, anywhere, and in any way they choose. Our key platforms include:

• Point-of-sale system;

• In-store mobility;

• E-commerce platform;

• Consumer mobile app;

• Replenishment and allocation systems;

• Merchandising presentation and inventory management tools;

• Warehouse and transportation management systems;

• Labor management tools for stores and supply chain;

• Price optimization system;

• Vendor purchase order control system;

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• Business intelligence and analytics tools; and

• Customer loyalty and campaign management system.

These systems are integrated through an enterprise resource planning (“ERP”) system. This ERP system tracks merchandise from initial order through ultimate sale and interfaces with our financial systems.

We continue to invest in technology to support store, online, and distribution facility expansion and our long-term strategic growth initiatives focused heavily on improving the customer experience across all channels. We also continue to evaluate and improve the functionality of our systems to maximize their effectiveness. Such efforts include ongoing hardware and software evaluations, refreshes, and upgrades to support optimal software configurations, and application performance. We plan to continue to invest in information technology and implement efficiency-driving system enhancements such as in-store mobility, labor management tools, and back-office support systems. We will continue to evaluate the use of technologies to improve productivity such as artificial intelligence, automation software, quantum computing, and other technologies. We also maintain and continue to strengthen the security of our information systems to help protect and prevent unauthorized access to personal information of our customers, employees, vendors, and other confidential Company data. We are endeavoring to adhere to quickly evolving industry privacy laws and standards. Critical areas of focus include cloud, end point protection and privacy. Collectively, these efforts are directed toward improving business processes, maintaining secure, efficient, and stable systems, and enabling the continued growth and success of our business.

Petsense

Petsense is a small-box pet specialty supply retailer focused on meeting the needs of pet owners, primarily in small and mid-sized communities, and offering a variety of pet products and services. At December 25, 2021, we operated a total of 178 Petsense stores in 23 states, with approximately 500 full-time and 1,000 part-time team members, and an e-commerce website (Petsense.com). The Petsense name is registered with the USPTO.

Human Capital

We believe that our team members are the foundation of our business and that their hard work, passion, commitment, and experience drive our success. As a result of our commitment to our team members, in both 2021 and 2020, we were recognized by the Great Place to Work Institute as a "Great Place to Work-Certified" company and were included in Forbes’ 2021 "America’s Best Employers for New Graduates" list for the second year in a row. Below are further descriptions of our Company and our focus on the development and support of our team members:

Management and Team Members

As of December 25, 2021, we employed approximately 22,000 full-time and 24,000 part-time Tractor Supply team members. We typically employ additional part-time team members throughout the year during high sales volume periods. We are not party to any collective bargaining agreements.

Our store operations are divided between east and west divisions, and each division is overseen by a senior vice president. The divisions are organized into regions, each of which is led by a regional vice president. The region is further organized into districts, each of which is led by a district manager. We have two internal advisory boards, one comprised of store managers and the other comprised of district managers. These groups bring a grassroots perspective to operational initiatives and generate chain-wide endorsement of proposed best-practice solutions.

Eligible team members can participate in one of our various bonus incentive programs, which provide the opportunity to receive additional compensation based upon individual, team, and/or Company performance. In addition to bonus incentive programs, we provide our eligible team members the opportunity to participate in an employee stock purchase plan and a 401(k) retirement savings plan and health insurance for which we share a significant portion of the cost of premiums. We additionally provide our eligible team members with paid time off and a six-week parental leave policy for new parents. Our team members also receive a discount on merchandise purchased from the Company.

We continue to make wage investments to offer our team members competitive compensation. On an annualized basis in 2021, we invested an additional $40 million in hourly store team members as a result of our increases in the minimum wage paid to team members.

We encourage a promote-from-within environment when internal resources permit. We also provide internal leadership development programs designed to prepare our high-potential team members for greater responsibility. Our current team of

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district managers and store managers has an average tenure of approximately nine and six years, respectively. We believe internal promotions, coupled with the hiring of individuals with previous retail experience, provide the management structure necessary to support our long-term strategic growth initiatives.

Store Personnel and Training

We seek to hire store team members who live and appreciate the "Out Here" lifestyle, including those with farming and ranching backgrounds, with particular emphasis on general maintenance, equine, and welding. We endeavor to staff our stores with courteous, highly motivated team members and devote considerable resources to training store team members, often in cooperation with our vendors. Our training programs include:

• A thorough on-boarding process to prepare new team members for their new role;

• Productive workplace environment training that is intended to educate team members on Company policies and procedures covering topics such as harassment, discrimination, and retaliation;

• Diversity and inclusion training which is intended to advance a diverse and inclusive culture built on one of our core values of respect, to foster different perspectives, ideas and innovative thinking;

• New store opening training that prepares our store managers to open new stores to Company standards;

• A management training program which covers all aspects of our store operations, delivering superior service, and managing the team member experience;

• Structured training on customer service and selling skills;

• Online product knowledge training produced in conjunction with key vendors;

• Leadership development programs that prepare leaders to expand their current contributions;

• Quarterly all store team member meetings; and

• An annual store manager meeting with vendor product presentations.

Workplace Health and Safety

We strive to provide a safe and healthy workplace for all team members and drive a culture of safe practices and continuous improvement. We provide role based safety training during the onboarding process and through other specific safety programs. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we implemented enhanced cleaning standards, adapted to the evolving public health guidance in our workplaces, and provided training and education to our team members. We implemented a vaccination incentive program, provided paid time off to receive vaccinations, and held onsite vaccination clinics for our team members among other COVID-19 mitigation practices. We continually monitor and adapt our safety practices as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.

COVID-19 Response

The Company has been and continues to closely monitor the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on all facets of our business. This includes the impact on our team members, customers, suppliers, vendors, business partners, and supply chain networks.

The health and safety of our team members and customers are the primary concerns of our management team. We have taken and continue to take numerous actions to promote health and safety, including, encouraging vaccination efforts, providing personal protective equipment to our team members, following local and federal guidance regarding the use of masks in our facilities, maintaining enhanced services for cleaning and sanitation, continuing to provide additional functionality to support contactless shopping experiences, promoting social distancing and cleaning actions in our stores, and continuing to offer remote work plans at our Store Support Center.

Additionally, we continue to support our team members during this pandemic through offering COVID-19 paid medical leave, 100% coverage of COVID-19 testing and treatment under our medical plan.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion ("DE&I")

Tractor Supply is committed to DE&I. We have built a strong and diverse team by purposefully seeking highly qualified diverse candidates with different backgrounds, experience, perspectives, ideas and skill sets. As we move forward, we are working to implement new DE&I initiatives that will result in an even more diverse team across the entire company.

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We are committed to providing a diverse and inclusive culture supported by our Mission & Values where we welcome diverse backgrounds and experiences and respectfully foster different perspectives, ideas and innovative thinking. We are stronger together, and we believe in the authenticity our team members bring to work every day. By focusing on our team members, we know that our customers, communities and suppliers will be well served. Diversity and inclusion play a key role in moving our business forward. Our workforce is approximately 51% male and 49% female. Minorities comprise approximately 17% of our workforce. Women serve in key leadership roles within the Company, including as Executive Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, Senior Vice President of Investor Relations and Public Relations, Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer and Senior Vice President of E-Commerce. We have taken several steps over the past twelve months to further enhance our diversity and inclusion strategy including publishing external DE&I goals aligned with our environmental, social, and governance ("ESG") efforts, enhancing our DE&I Strategy to include supplier diversity efforts, establishing our DE&I Customer Promise and continuing activation of our numerous team member engagement groups supporting the development, community involvement and allyship within our Company. We will continue to build on these initiatives to enhance our culture of respect and teamwork across our organization.

Growth Strategy

Tractor Supply believes we can grow our business by being an integral part of our customers’ lives as the dependable supplier of "Out Here" lifestyle solutions, creating customer loyalty through personalized experiences, our Neighbor's Club loyalty program and providing convenience that our customers expect at anytime, anywhere, and in any way they choose. Our long-term growth strategy is to: (1) expand and deepen our customer base by providing personal, localized, and memorable customer engagements by leveraging content, social media, and digital shopping experiences, attracting new customers and driving loyalty, (2) evolve customer experiences by digitizing our business processes and furthering our omni-channel capabilities, (3) offer relevant assortments and services across all channels through exclusive and national brands and continue to grow our total addressable market by introducing new products and services through our test and learn strategy, (4) drive operational excellence and productivity through continuous improvement, increasing space utilization, and implementing advanced supply chain capabilities to support growth, scale and agility, and (5) expand through selective acquisitions, as such opportunities arise, to add complementary businesses and to enhance penetration into new and existing markets to supplement organic growth.

Achieving this strategy will require a foundational focus on: (1) connecting, empowering and growing our team to enhance our team members' lives and the communities in which they live, enabling them to provide legendary service to our customers, and (2) allocating resources in a disciplined and efficient manner to drive profitable growth and build stockholder value, including leveraging technology and automation to align our cost structure to support new business capabilities for margin improvement and cost reductions.

Over the past five years, we have experienced considerable sales growth, resulting in a compounded annual growth rate of approximately 13.4%. We plan to open approximately 75 to 80 new Tractor Supply and 10 new Petsense stores in fiscal 2022, a selling square footage increase of approximately 4%. In fiscal 2021, we opened 80 new Tractor Supply stores and seven new Petsense stores. In fiscal 2020, we opened 80 new Tractor Supply stores and nine new Petsense stores. This represents a selling square footage increase of approximately 4% during each of fiscal 2021 and fiscal 2020.

At December 25, 2021, we operated 2,181 retail stores in 49 states (2,003 Tractor Supply and Del’s retail stores and 178 Petsense retail stores). Given the size of the communities that we target, we believe that there is ample opportunity for new store growth in many existing and new markets. We believe we have developed a proven method for selecting store sites and we believe we have significant additional opportunities for new Tractor Supply stores. We also believe that there is opportunity for continued growth for Petsense stores.

Approximately 57% of our stores are in freestanding buildings and 43% are located in shopping centers. We lease approximately 95% of our stores and own the remaining 5%.

In addition to new store expansion, we will continue to support our strategic growth through expansion of our distribution network and initiatives including, among others, space productivity and side lot improvements in certain existing stores as well as continued improvements in technology and infrastructure at our existing stores, and ongoing investments to enhance our digital and omni-channel capabilities to better serve our customers.

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Competition

We operate in a competitive retail industry. We believe the principal competitive factors include location of stores, fulfillment options, price, quality of merchandise, in-stock inventory consistency, merchandise assortment and presentation, product knowledge, and customer service. We compete with general merchandise retailers, home center retailers, pet retailers, specialty and discount retailers, independently owned retail farm and ranch stores, numerous privately-held regional farm store chains and farm cooperatives, as well as internet-based retailers. However, we believe we successfully differentiate ourselves from many of these retailers by focusing on our specialized market niche for customers living the rural lifestyle. See further discussion of competition in 1A. “Risk Factors” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Seasonality and Weather

Our business is seasonal. Historically, our sales and profits are the highest in the second and fourth fiscal quarters due to the sale of seasonal products. We usually experience our highest inventory and accounts payable balances during our first fiscal quarter for purchases of seasonal products to support the higher sales volume of the spring selling season, and again during our third fiscal quarter to support the higher sales volume of the cold-weather selling season. We believe that our business can be more accurately assessed by focusing on the performance of the halves, not the quarters, due to the fact that different weather patterns from year-to-year can shift the timing of sales and profits between quarters, particularly between the first and second fiscal quarters and the third and fourth fiscal quarters.

Historically, weather conditions, including unseasonably warm weather in the fall and winter months and unseasonably cool weather in the spring and summer months, have unfavorably affected the timing and volume of our sales and results of operations. In addition, extreme weather conditions, including snow and ice storms, flood and wind damage, hurricanes, tornadoes, extreme rain, and droughts have impacted operating results both negatively and positively, depending on the severity and length of these conditions. Our strategy is to manage product flow and adjust merchandise assortments and depth of inventory to capitalize on seasonal demand trends.

Stewardship and Compliance with Environmental Matters

Our operations are subject to numerous federal, state, and local laws and regulations, enacted or adopted, regulating the discharge of materials into the environment or otherwise relating to the protection of the environment. We are committed to complying with all applicable environmental laws and regulations. We are also committed to becoming a more environmentally sustainable company. This commitment is demonstrated through our Stewardship Program, which is our environmental sustainability program. Through this program, the Company has implemented a number of initiatives designed to reduce our impact on the environment. These initiatives include the installation of energy management systems, LED lighting, high efficiency heating/air conditioning systems, and recycling programs in our stores, distribution facilities, and Store Support Center. Our Store Support Center and our distribution centers in Casa Grande, Arizona, and Frankfort, New York, are LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver certified for environmentally sustainable design, construction, and operation. We also installed solar arrays at the Store Support Center in Brentwood, Tennessee, and our Tractor Supply store in Hendersonville, Tennessee.

The Company has been a SmartWay Transport partner since 2013. SmartWay Transport is a public-private initiative between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, large and small trucking companies, retailers, and other federal and state agencies. Its purpose is to improve fuel efficiency and the environmental performance (reduction of both greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution) of supply chains.

In December 2018, we announced a goal to reduce carbon emissions from our facilities by 25% by 2025 from our 2015 baseline as part of the Company's Stewardship Program. In December 2020, we announced that we had reached this goal five years early.

In December 2021, we released our 2020 Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures Report, following the announcement of our goal in September 2021 to reduce our carbon footprint by 50% by 2030 and achieve net zero missions across all operations by 2040. In the report, we discussed our approach to evaluating and managing climate change risks and identifying opportunities. We also detailed the next phase of our sustainability journey, including increasing efforts to procure renewable energy, continuing investments in energy efficiency and cleaner technologies, avoiding future emissions through better design of both stores and distribution centers, and enhancing our Scope 3 focus with greater transparency and reduction efforts, including new vendor engagement to drive down value chain emissions.

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Additional information can be found in our ESG Tear Sheet and on our website (TractorSupply.com). The information provided on our website is not part of this report, and is therefore not incorporated by reference unless such information is otherwise specifically referenced elsewhere in this report.

Information about our Executive Officers

Pursuant to General Instruction G(3) of Form 10-K, the following list is included in Part I of this Report in lieu of being included in the Proxy Statement for the Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be held on May 11, 2022.

The following is a list of the names and ages of all executive officers of the registrant, indicating all positions and offices with the registrant held by each such person and each person’s principal occupations and employment during at least the past five years:

Name			Position			Age
Harry A. Lawton, III			President and Chief Executive Officer			47
Kurt D. Barton			Executive Vice President – Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer			50
Robert D. Mills			Executive Vice President – Chief Technology, Digital Commerce and Strategy Officer			49
John P. Ordus			Executive Vice President – Chief Stores Officer			46
Jonathan S. Estep			Executive Vice President – Chief Merchandising Officer			42
Melissa D. Kersey			Executive Vice President – Chief Human Resources Officer			47
Colin W. Yankee			Executive Vice President – Chief Supply Chain Officer			44
Noni L. Ellison			Senior Vice President – General Counsel and Corporate Secretary			50
Christi C. Korzekwa			Senior Vice President – Chief Marketing Officer			56
Matthew L. Rubin			Senior Vice President and General Manager of Petsense			42

Harry A. Lawton, III was appointed as President and Chief Executive Officer on January 13, 2020. Mr. Lawton served as President of Macy's, Inc. from September 2017 to December 2019. Prior to that time, Mr. Lawton served as Senior Vice President, North America at eBay, Inc. since May 2015. Mr. Lawton previously held a number of leadership positions at Home Depot, Inc. from 2005 to 2015, including Senior Vice President of Merchandising and head of Home Depot's online business. Since January 2019, Mr. Lawton has served as a director of Sealed Air Corporation and previously served as a director of Buffalo Wild Wings, Inc. from October 2016 to February 2018.

Kurt D. Barton was promoted to Executive Vice President – Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer in February 2019, after having served as Senior Vice President – Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer since March 2017. Prior to that time, Mr. Barton served as Senior Vice President – Controller of the Company since February 2016. Mr. Barton previously served as Vice President – Controller of the Company from February 2009, after having served as the Company's Director, Internal Audit from July 2002 to February 2009. Mr. Barton has served in various other leadership roles in accounting since he joined the Company in 1999. Mr. Barton, a Certified Public Accountant, began his career in public accounting in 1993, spending six years at Ernst & Young, LLP.

Robert D. Mills has served as Executive Vice President – Chief Technology, Digital Commerce and Strategy Officer since August 2018, prior to which he served as the Company's Senior Vice President – Chief Information Officer since February 2014. Mr. Mills previously served as Chief Information Officer for Ulta Beauty, Inc. from October 2011 until he joined the Company. From 2005 to 2011, Mr. Mills was Vice President, Chief Information Officer for the online business unit at Sears Holdings Corporation where he began as an Information Technology Customer Relationship Leader in 2001. Prior to 2001, Mr. Mills held roles at The Allstate Corporation, Rockwell International, Telecommunications Division, and Household Finance Corporation. Since March 2018, Mr. Mills has served as a director of B&G Foods, Inc.

John P. Ordus was promoted to Executive Vice President – Chief Stores Officer in February 2020, after having served as the Company's Senior Vice President - Store Operations since August 2015. Prior to that time, Mr. Ordus served as Regional Vice President for the Company from June 2010 and as a Regional Director for the Company since September 2008. Mr. Ordus joined the Company as a District Manager in February 2002 after the acquisition of Quality Farm & Fleet, Inc. with which Mr. Ordus held roles since January 1988.

Jonathan S. Estep was promoted to Executive Vice President – Chief Merchandising Officer in February 2020, after having served as the Company's Senior Vice President, General Merchandising since April 2017. Prior to that time, Mr. Estep served the Company as a Vice President, Divisional Merchandise Manager from February 2014. Mr. Estep also previously served in various other leadership roles in merchandising since he re-joined the Company in January 2008.

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Melissa D. Kersey was appointed as Executive Vice President – Chief Human Resources Officer on July 20, 2020. Ms. Kersey was previously Senior Vice President and Chief People Officer for McDonald's USA, LLC from 2017 until July 2020. Ms. Kersey also previously held a number of executive level roles with Walmart Inc. (previously Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) from 2008 to 2017, including Senior Vice President of Global Human Resource Transformation and People Services, Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer for U.S. Stores, and Senior Vice President of Learning and Human Resources Strategy. Prior to that time, Ms. Kersey spent eight years with Alltel Wireless and four years with the Target Corporation in Operations, Distribution, Human Resources and Technology roles.

Colin W. Yankee was promoted to Executive Vice President - Chief Supply Chain Officer in February 2020, after having served as the Company's Senior Vice President, Supply Chain since November 2015 when he joined the Company. Mr. Yankee was previously Vice President of Logistics for Neiman Marcus Group LLC from 2013 to 2015. Prior to that time, Mr. Yankee held various leadership roles in logistics and supply chain with the Target Corporation since 2004. He began his career as a Cavalry Officer, Captain in the United States Army.

Noni L. Ellison was appointed as Senior Vice President – General Counsel and Corporate Secretary on January 11, 2021. Ms. Ellison was previously General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer and Corporate Secretary for Carestream Dental LLC from August 2017 until January 2021. Ms. Ellison also previously served as Associate General Counsel and Assistant Corporate Secretary at W.W. Grainger, Inc. from February 2015 until July 2017. Prior to that time, Ms. Ellison held roles of increasing responsibility at Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. and Scripps Networks Interactive, Inc. and practiced law with two national law firms as a corporate finance and securities associate.

Christi C. Korzekwa was promoted to Senior Vice President - Chief Marketing Officer in February 2022, after having served as Senior Vice President – Marketing since February 2015. Ms. Korzekwa previously served as Vice President, Marketing since she joined the Company in February 2012. Prior to joining the Company, Ms. Korzekwa served as Senior Vice President, Director of Client Services for Blue Sky Agency. She worked for Home Depot, Inc. from 2004 to 2011 in roles of increasing importance in marketing and advertising, most recently as Senior Director, Marketing. Before joining Home Depot, Inc., Ms. Korzekwa spent 17 years with TM Advertising, LLC, most recently serving as their Senior Vice President, Global Media Director.

Matthew L. Rubin was appointed Senior Vice President and General Manager of Petsense on February 1, 2021. Mr. Rubin previously served as Senior Vice President of Business Development & Growth at The Michaels Stores, Inc. from October 2018 until January 2021. Mr. Rubin was previously an executive in Accenture plc's North America Retail Practice from April 2015 to October 2018. Before April 2015, Mr. Rubin was a Partner at Consolidated Venture Partners & Consolidated Marketing and a Co-Founder & Finance Partner at OnTrend Products. Mr. Rubin also previously served as Vice President of Specialty Business Operations at BJ’s Wholesale Club Holding, Inc.. Mr. Rubin began his career at Office Depot, Inc. where he had multiple merchandising and strategic project leadership roles of increasing responsibility.

Additional Information

We file reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including Annual Reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and other reports as required. We are an electronic filer and the SEC maintains an Internet website at sec.gov that contains the reports, proxy and information statements, and other information we file.

We make available, free of charge through our Internet website, TractorSupply.com, our Annual Report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and all amendments to those reports as soon as reasonably practicable after such material is electronically filed with or furnished to the SEC. The information provided on our website is not part of this report, and is therefore not incorporated by reference unless such information is otherwise specifically referenced elsewhere in this report.

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