Tractor Supply Co. ends DEI after customer complaints

Tractor Supply Co. has joined a growing list of businesses that are abandoning racially charged business practices because of customer backlash.

The retailer recently announced that moving forward, it will “ensure our activities and giving tie directly to our business.” The chain of more than 2,200 stores employing 50,000 workers indicated its actions stem from a desire to “live up to our mission and values every day and represent the values of the communities and customers we serve.”

“We have heard from customers that we have disappointed them,” it said, according to The Christian Post. “We have taken this feedback to heart.”

The company intends to no longer submit data to the Human Rights Campaign, referring to an LGBTQ advocacy organization that gives businesses dubious ratings based on their acceptance of LGBTQ advocacy demands. It also will “further focus on rural America priorities, including agricultural education, animal welfare, veteran causes and being a good neighbor and stop sponsoring nonbusiness activities like pride festivals and voting campaigns.”

It’s time to expose Tractor Supply.

It’s one of the most beloved brands in 🇺🇸 by conservatives but what do they REALLY stand for under CEO @hallawton’s leadership?

• LGBTQIA+ training for employees
• Funding pride/drag events
• They have a DEI Council
• Funding sex changes… pic.twitter.com/F4tvNmNZ9f

— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) June 6, 2024

Additional commitments made by Tractor Supply Co. include working to “eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion roles and retire our current DEI goals while still ensuring a respectful environment” and vowing to “withdraw our carbon emission goals and focus on our land and water conservation efforts.”

“We will continue to listen to our customers and team members,” the company said. “Your trust and confidence in us are of the utmost importance, and we don’t take that lightly.”

READ: Chick-fil-A and DEI

Tractor Supply Co. first found itself subject to negative headlines and consumer and employee backlash after conservative influencer Robby Starbuck posted on social media last month that the company has “LGBTQIA+ training for employees,” funds “pride/drag events,” has a “DEI council,” funds “sex changes,” embraces “climate change activism” and “pride month decorations in the office,” puts on “LGBTQIA+ events at work” and engages in “DEI hiring practices.”

After Tractor Supply signaled its intention to make changes, Starbuck cheered the company’s enactment of “the most dramatic policy reversal I’ve ever seen” as a “massive victory for sanity and the single biggest boycott win of our lifetime.”

–Alan Goforth | Metro Voice