Tumac Closes Dayton Store

DAYTON - Because of a company merger, Dayton's Tumac store that sold tractor equipment and parts will close its doors permanently on Friday after about 40 years of service to the community, said President Tim Larkin.

The store's closure not only means that Columbia County farmers will have to go to Walla Walla for oil and other small parts for their tractors, but that two jobs will be lost, Larkin said.

"The Columbia County community has been very supportive," Larkin said. "It wasn't a decision that was made lightly."

Larkin said the closure of the Dayton store had nothing to do with its profits. He said "the Dayton store was profitable every year."

The closure is because of a merger of most of the John Deere dealerships in Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho.

Larkin said many generations of small family farms were served through small family tractor dealerships. Over the past 30 years as more farms have moved from the hands of our neighbors into the hands of big companies, Larkin said the boards of businessmen won't deal with the smaller "mom and pop" dealerships.

Because many farms in Eastern Washington stayed within families, the mergers didn't come as soon as for those in the corn belt and the Midwest, Larkin said.

But now, national policy and corporate headquarters is leaning on Tumac to merge with other dealerships.

The Dayton store hasn't been a John Deere dealer for 12 years, but it is competitive with Deere, he said.

The company owns a Walla Walla store as well and the company was to sell any store competitive with it, he said. The company also recently sold its Kubota store in Walla Walla.

These big mergers to reduce the competition are the way business is moving, Larkin said.

"It wasn't that long ago that there was a corner grocery store. Now we have chains like Safeway. It's not anything unique in our economy."

Tumac tried to sell the Dayton store to other John Deere dealers, but there was no interest. Larkin said closure was the only other alternative.

The Dayton store wasn't profitable from the equipment, but because it sold parts that all brands of tractors need, he said. Now, the local farmers will have to go to Walla Walla or Colfax for parts.

"That's going to be a hardship for people," Larkin said. "Not the loss of an equipment dealer."