ONTARIO – Everybody knows what the average home store is missing: livestock, firearms and tractors. Rural King is here to fill the gap.
The Illinois-based home and farm supply store, founded in 1960, opened its first location in Ontario Friday morning at 600 Stumbo Rd. N. The chain has 31 Ohio locations, including in Mount Vernon and Marion.
“There are a couple of things we have that (our competitors) don’t,” Rural King district manager Ty Trbovich said. “It’s a little bit of everything, and people don’t really realize that.
“It’s hard to explain what we are if you’re not in the stores. But people should come in and check it out and see what we carry.”
There’s an oddity to Rural King that has to be experienced.
The grand opening featured food and beverage trucks selling everything from lemonade to panini. Tractors lined the entrance, just feet away from where the ceremonial ribbon was cut — free coffee for customers amidst aisles of Carhartt and Milwaukee-branded clothing, consumables, chicks and ducklings.
“We have such an assortment of candy products, even cereal, and the farm stuff,” store manager Cirila “CiCi” Andres said. “It’s unique. It’s different … (Customers) are loving that so far.”
Customers from all over came to see the new location – many of the faces were familiar to employees who relocated from Marion or Norwalk.
“We’re not really sharing customers from (our other locations), but a lot of people from our Mount Vernon store are in here,” Trbovich said. “A lot of people from our Worcester store. So a lot of the this community already is familiar with us.”
Rural King has a devoted customer base through its niche home and farm intersection. The new site’s opening has even helped some of its competitors.
“We love our competitors,” Andres said. “We’ve been welcoming to them, too. I’ve seen one (competitor’s) manager, and it was good talking to him. He even liked the way the store looks.”
The location had its soft opening last Thursday, giving staff members time to familiarize themselves with operations and bring in a local customer base. Rural King hopes to continue growing through word-of-mouth, and the warm welcome has brought promise.
“The community has really embraced us,” Trbovich said. “It’s been fun, exciting, and it’s good to see this mall lifting up and giving out some life again.”
