The Valmont Shopping Plaza will get its newest store when Tractor Supply opens next month.

Jordan Coats, who is the manager of the new store, said Tractor Supply Company — located in the former Dunham Sports and Stroud's space — will have a "soft" opening on June 12, with a grand opening ceremony with special events two weeks later, on June 26.

Jordan Coats, manager of the new Tractor Supply Company in the Valmont Plaza, stands in front of the store on Wednesday while talking about the upcoming store opening next month. (Photo: Eric Conover)

Coats said the new store will have 13 employees, who will work in what Coats said will be a "medium-sized" Tractor Supply.

"Customer service is what sets us apart." Coats said. "We're like a 'mom and pop' store with customer service. In all of the surveys we do, we always come out in the top five for retailers with customer service. What we carry we are good at selling. We have a diverse team. We have retailers, welders, and bilingual, agricultural, equine, and construction people. We should be able to cater to just about every background."

Tractor Supply sells a variety of products for the agricultural, farming and ranching industries, including: work clothes, outdoor power equipment, fencing, and pet, welding, home improvement and lawn and garden products.

"We carry over 23,000 different products," Coats said. "We carry everything from clothes, to animal supplies, lawn and garden supplies, and tools. Our own line of tools, Master tools, have the best warranty of a power tool on the market, five years. And our hand tools have a lifetime warranty."

Coats said the store will have a 15,000-square-foot sales floor inside, and another 15,000 square feet inside a fence that has been built on the parking lot in front of the store.

"At the entrance, on the wood floor, we will have the clothing," Coats said. "On the right side of the store will be the pet supplies. The ag (agricultural) supplies will be in the back. And along the left wall, we will have tools, lawn and garden and home improvement. In the center of the store will be our promotional items. On the sidewalk in front of the store, we will have our seasonal items, like rock salt. Inside the fence, we will have fencing materials, and merchandise we sell out of trailers. Anything we can't fit inside the store, will be out there."

Coats said then construction crew getting the store ready has done "a super job. In three weeks, they really turned this building around. And the landlord just replaced the roof."

Coats said Tractor Supply is glad to be in the Hazleton area, and wants to be part of the community.

"We are excited about our new home," Coats said. "We are hoping we can bring this shopping center to life.

"We are here for the long haul," he continued. "We are a growth company. We are growing at a rate of 10 percent a year. That's almost unheard of today."

Coats said Tractor Supply is making big plans for its grand opening June 26.

"We are very committed to being part of the community," he said. "We like the hometown feel. We like being involved in local groups. We want to get the 4-H and FFA involved."

Tractor Supply has 800 stores in 40 states. The closest stores to Hazleton are in Wilkes-Barre, Lehighton, St. Clair and Bloomsburg.

ERIC CONOVER/Staff Photographer Jordan Coats, manager of the new Tractor Supply Company in the Valmont Plaza, stands in front of the store on Wednesday while talking about the upcoming store opening next month.