Midwest dopers may know there are two similar stores: Fleet Farm and Farm & Fleet.
They sell similar stuff (some clothing, tools, automotive, lawnmowers, animal care etc). Many have wondered what the difference between them is (I’ve heard stories that it was two brothers who split the buisiness).
Well today I was at a career fair and Farm & Fleet was there and I asked:
It was two separate families who started similar buisinesses about the same time. The two families know each other and were part of the same buying group in the early years (circa 1955). They have an unwritten rule that they wont open a store in the same town as the competitor. LaCrosse/Winona and Chippewa Falls / Eau Claire (I think) are about as close as they get.
So thats the story - no divorce, no squabbling siblings.
I wasn’t aware of Fleet Farm, which is basically a Wisconsin and Minnesota phenomenon. However, I began seeing and hearing Quality Farm & Fleet commercials shortly after moving to Indiana. The Quality stores went bankrupt, but Blain’s Farm and Fleet still serves Wisconsin, Iowa, and Illinois.
IIRC, there Blain’s Farm and Fleet, and there’s Mill’s Fleet Farm. I grew up with Farm & Fleet in Platteville, WI and is the only one I’m aware of. It seems like there is a line that goes north west from southern WI that separates the two.
