In a bleak economy, these companies are flourishing

Photo caption: Tim Linch, store manager at Tractor Supply Co., straightens merchandise in Leesburg, Va., on July 30. The company is thriving either despite or because of the pandemic. (Katherine Frey/The Washington Post). Article by David J. Lynch.

The coronavirus pandemic is reshaping spending patterns, creating new winners and losers

LEESBURG, Va. — Tucked into a suburban shopping center about two miles from a Civil War battlefield, this Tractor Supply Co. outlet has become a rare hot spot in an economy that has gone ice cold.

Since the first days of the coronavirus pandemic, the retailer for farmers, ranchers and suburbanites who fancy themselves farmers or ranchers has enjoyed what its chief executive calls an “unprecedented” sales surge. Fencing, bird feed, plumbing supplies, pet food, outdoor apparel, live chickens, lawn tractors — just about anything in stock has been flying out of its 1,881 stores nationwide. […]

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