After nearly two years of inactivity, signs of life are starting to appear on the property located off the West Bypass in Andalusia, formerly occupied by Wal-Mart, with the impending arrival of The Tractor Supply Company (TSC).

A “coming soon” sign was placed at the front end of 540 West Bypass property last week announcing the future home of the corporate farm and ranch supply company.

TSC media relations representative Rob Hoskins said no information was available at this time concerning the company’s new branch in Andalusia.

“As expected, our real estate department isn’t ready to release store opening information concerning the proposed Andalusia location quite yet for legal reasons,” he stated in an e-mail to the Star-News Tuesday afternoon.

According to the company’s website, www.tractorsupplycompany.com, TSC is “the largest retail farm and ranch store chain in the United States. The company operates more than 800 retail stores in 40 states, employs more than 10,000 team members and is headquartered in Brentwood, Tenn. Its stock is traded on the NASDAQ exchange under the symbol ‘TSCO.’

The company was founded in 1938 as a mail order catalog business offering tractor parts to America’s family farmers. Today Tractor Supply is a leading edge retailer with revenues surpassing $2 billion.

Tractor Supply stores are primarily located in rural areas and the outlying suburbs of major cities. The typical Tractor Supply store has 15,000-24,000 square feet of inside selling space with a similar amount of outside space used to display agricultural fencing, livestock equipment and horse stalls.”

The Web site also states that each store includes a welder, a farmer and a horse owner who will collectively provide a wealth of knowledge to the community it serves.

According to the Web site “it is estimated that the ‘hobby’ or ‘pleasure’ farmer consumer segment spends more than $5.5 billion annually on farm supplies. Today less than 10 percent of the company’s customers classify themselves as full-time farmers or ranchers.”

TSC currently operates several stores within the state of Alabama as well as surrounding states including Bainbridge, Ga., Chipley, Fla., and Chelsea, Ala.