# This is a punch in the gut....Titan machinery closing 11 stores.



## NebTrac

http://krvn.com/agricultural/titan-machinery-announces-dealership-restructuring/

I never wanted our local CIH shop to sell to them in the first place and this is exactly why. I don't think they lasted more than 10 years as Titan.

Troy


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## mlappin

Titan Machinery Inc. announced on Feb. 9 that it is consolidating fifteen stores and realigning its management structure to address increasing complexity and scale of customer operations and machine solutions, and to gain efficiencies across its footprint.

In plain english: Somebody got too big for their britches.


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## PaMike

Wow, weird...I just posted earlier today about the JD merger in the Northeast. I asked in that thread whatever happened to Titan....?? I knew several years ago they were in trouble I just didn't know the trouble was still brewing..


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## 2ndWindfarm

Bigger farms and ranches equals bigger equipment. As the land becomes more consolidated with fewer producers; how can those small town dealerships stay above water?

I don't think anyone likes those mega-store, chain dealerships...

Especially small towns, small farmers and the technical workers out of a job!


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## PaMike

That's true to a point, however mismanagement also plays BIG into things. Taking on huge debt to build giant showcase stores, etc etc is also a large factor. An owner, or family of owners that understands the ag industry and its ups and downs is more likely to make sound business decisions than an investor owner looking at return on investment..


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## swmnhay

Titan is a publicly traded stock.I'm surprised it is as high as it is now.It is a quite a bit off its low.Hate to be a dealer that sold out to them with part of it pd in stock options!

http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/titn


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## Waterway64

We have two smaller privately owned JD dealers in this area. Both were doing fine and taking care of a ranch small farm customer base John Deere forced them into a partner dealership or they would have dropped them both. I blame tractor companies for causing a lot of these mega mergers of dealerships.


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## reede

Both of the nearby Deere places(a 3 store dealer and a 1 store dealer) recently were bought out by Blanchard. Probably a downturn to the 3 store dealer, and an improvement in the 1 store.


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## luke strawwalker

Waterway64 said:


> We have two smaller privately owned JD dealers in this area. Both were doing fine and taking care of a ranch small farm customer base John Deere forced them into a partner dealership or they would have dropped them both. I blame tractor companies for causing a lot of these mega mergers of dealerships.


Yeah there's a LOT of that crap going around! Basically the only thing we have left in SE TX is Shoppa's for JD and Hlavinka's for CIH. Shoppa's owns every Deere store from Houston to almost Corpus Christi. Hlavinka's owns all the CIH stores from the east side of Houston (Nome) to nearly to Corpus... (think Robstown is the closest non-Hlavinka store). NH dealers have stayed independent (so far) selling blue tractors and red/yellow hay equipment.

There definitely has been a lot of "consolidation"... Hlavinka and Shoppas both went on a buying spree over the past few years... Shoppa's used to just have the JD store in East Bernard, but they now have the Deere stores in El Campo, Bay City, East Bernard, Victoria, and they bought out the independent in Edna, ran the store a couple years, and have since shut it down, as well as the Eagle Lake store... and they just bought out the old Deere dealer in Shiner, the old Shiner Filley, which had been bought out a couple years ago by Jaeger's... Now they're Shoppa's too...

Hlavinka used to just have the East Bernard store and one in Nome other side of Houston, then opened one in Rosenberg, and went on a buying spree... bought out the Bay City store, El Campo, Edna (which they've subsequently closed down), built a new store in Victoria. They drove the Case dealer out of business during the Case/IH merger years ago (he lost the franchise due to some dirty dealing and became a tractor salvage company instead, which he shut down a few years ago).

New Holland has suffered the loss of a lot of stores too, to going out of business or buyups... Columbus and Sealy closed, but another NH chain dealer out of Brenham has opened a new NH store in Sealy. West Columbia and Angleton stores now are owned by Wharton Tractor. The Shiner store that I do 95% of my business with is still independent.

What's funny is ALL the NH stores sell more Kuhn hay equipment than NH, at least in 3 point cutters and wheel rakes and stuff. Shiner doesn't even stock a NH 3 pt disk mower-- only Kuhn. Most of them are also selling Kuhn balers alongside the NH balers. They tend to run about 50-50 when it comes to diskbines... half Kuhn half NH. Some of them are even selling Vermeer (Gonzales has an independent Vermeer dealer, but Wharton has a lot of yellow on the lot...) The Shiner dealer stocks and sells more Mahindra tractors than Fiats now... sorry, "NH" tractors... LOL

Kubota is on the rise. New store in Victoria and Hallettsville, and some of the independent dealers usually all carrying some Kubby's as well. Mahindra also has a pretty big "tractor only" store in Sealy-- no implements!

Agco is nonexistent here... the only store in the region, Rioux in El Campo, closed a couple years back. Dunno what you'd do now for Allis, Massey, White, Oliver, Gleaner, or Agco parts...

Deere and CNH don't want the dealers "competing against each other" on price to make sales. I guess they figure they'll "strong-arm" folks into paying whatever price they want to set, since they can't go down the road to another store where the owner might have inventory he's more motivated to move... Since they're all owned by the same company, same price everywhere.

Local NH dealer tried that on me when we bought our 5610S's back around the turn of the century... He got PO'd that I bought the same tractor he quoted me $18,000 out the door for $10,000 cash from the Shiner dealer. TOUGH COOKIES! He started rambling about "protected territories" and all that crap-- I told him flat out then and there, "I wouldn't have bought that tractor from you for THAT price anyway-- I'd have either gone and gotten a Massey cheaper, or put a little more with it and bought a DEERE..." That shut him up REAL quick... LOL

Sometimes ya gotta take these guys down a peg or two... IMHO that's why Kubby and Mahindra are trouncing their butts... That and these big mega dealers only want to cater to the BTO's... they don't want to mess with the little guys... Why I quit dealing with the Wharton NH dealer-- he was ONLY interested in catering to the turf grass farms; everybody else was just 'in the way'. Meh... so I'll get it in Shiner...

later! OL J R


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## r82230

luke strawwalker said:


> New Holland has suffered the loss of a lot of stores too, to going out of business or buyups... Columbus and Sealy closed, but another NH chain dealer out of Brenham has opened a new NH store in Sealy. West Columbia and Angleton stores now are owned by Wharton Tractor. The Shiner store that I do 95% of my business with is still independent.
> 
> later! OL J R


Hasn't WCT been in Sealy, Brenham and ??? (I don't remember the name of the town) for a while?

FYI, I bought my NH T5-115 from WCT (Washington County Tractor maybe).

Larry


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## 506

Hey JR - Shoppa's jumped north of I-10 and recently bought out Jaeger's in Giddings. So, they keep expanding. CP in Navasota still beats them on price even though CP has fewer stores.


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## 506

Larry - WCT (Washington Country Tractor) is in Sealy, Navasota, Bryan, and Brenham. They have been here for several generations. How'd you end up with a WCT product all the way in MI?


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## r82230

506 said:


> Larry - WCT (Washington Country Tractor) is in Sealy, Navasota, Bryan, and Brenham. They have been here for several generations. How'd you end up with a WCT product all the way in MI?


Brenham, was the store I couldn't remember.

How did I get a Texas tractor in Michigan (naturally had it hauled). 

Real answer, price, price, price. Seems in January of 2014 WCT bought 25-30 different models/options of NH tractors from NH, that they had to pay 'cash' for (couldn't put on their floor plan maybe). The tractors were 2013 model year, the warranty started on January 1, 2014 and a 25% off the price. So WCT was selling them the same way 25% off the price for cash. They told me every NH dealer in the US had the same opportunity as they did (to purchase said tractors).

Took the deal/offer I had from WCT to my local NH dealerships (two of them anyhow), they first was amazed at price (didn't even believe price at first), second, they found out I was buying cheaper than their cost (year older tractor however).

Arranged my own financing (FCS), cost $1,500 to have it shipped to Michigan. FCS would have let me finance whole tractor, plus shipping cost if I would have wanted to do so.

So in January of 2014 I became a owner of a new tractor. T5-115 with high visibility cab, 32 speed, FEL w/bucket, 3 remotes, etc. The only thing that it didn't have was an ecom-PTO and Michigan fuel. Darn Texas fuel wanted to gel up (at sub-zero temperatures), easy fix Diesel 911.

Larry


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## 2ndWindfarm

r82230 said:


> Real answer, price, price, price.
> 
> Took the deal/offer I had from WCT to my local NH dealerships (two of them anyhow), they first was amazed at price (didn't even believe price at first), second, they found out I was buying cheaper than their cost (year older tractor however).
> 
> Arranged my own financing (FCS), cost $1,500 to have it shipped to Michigan. FCS would have let me finance whole tractor, plus shipping cost if I would have wanted to do so.
> 
> So in January of 2014 I became a owner of a new tractor. T5-115 with high visibility cab, 32 speed, FEL w/bucket, 3 remotes, etc. The only thing that it didn't have was an ecom-PTO and Michigan fuel. Darn Texas fuel wanted to gel up (at sub-zero temperatures), easy fix Diesel 911.
> 
> Larry


I have bought tractors in Thomasville, GA, Fort Wayne, IN, and Devils Lake, ND.

Square balers in Platte, SD, Wayne, NE and a round baler in Little Falls, MN.

Welcome to the Internet!

Prices and availability at your fingertips. Manufacturers that consolidate and work to "fix" prices are gonna "pay" over the long haul!


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## r82230

2ndWindfarm said:


> I have bought tractors in Thomasville, GA, Fort Wayne, IN, and Devils Lake, ND.
> 
> Square balers in Platte, SD, Wayne, NE and a round baler in Little Falls, MN.
> 
> Welcome to the Internet!
> 
> Prices and availability at your fingertips. Manufacturers that consolidate and work to "fix" prices are gonna "pay" over the long haul!


Yep, bought a previous slightly used tractor from Arkansas. 2006 NH TN70DA with FEL, just shy of 400 hours 4 years old, all service work done at a NH dealership. Local jockey had same model, same year double the hours and only one remote on the rear. He want $8K more, I known (and bought from) him for 35+ years. I told him I don't mind him making a profit, but $8 was a little too much, how about $4K. He said nope, $6K was the best he could do and I should be ashamed on doing business non-local. I felt re-ashamed keeping $6K in my pocket by golly.

BTW, I got that one hauled for $900 (guy was back hauling, he had been hauling hay to Texas, going back empty most of the time).

Larry


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## 2ndWindfarm

I offered to split the difference on 2 of the tractor deals. Each time the local guy was around $6,500 higher than the lower 48 dealers. Nope. Can't do it!

I've lived up here going on 40 years. Across the board, it's 25% higher cost of living.

His price was way above that...

I can drive and haul if I have to.


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## somedevildawg

I have a different theory and approach....I try to do business with my local dealers...if I need something, they will always bend over backwards to help me, if it means having someone meet me at the dealership, that's what they will do, weekends or holidays. I run accounts at every one of them and pay every thirty days like clockwork....when I need service, they will generally jump on my machine cause they know they will get paid promptly....business relationships, be it with my customers or my suppliers is something that I take seriously. When tough times happen, and they will, I know I have a dealer that will take care of my problems. Saving a few dollars vs putting it back into the companies that employ my neighbors is paramount to me......


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## 2ndWindfarm

somedevildawg said:


> I have a different theory and approach....I try to do business with my local dealers...if I need something, they will always bend over backwards to help me, if it means having someone meet me at the dealership, that's what they will do, weekends or holidays. I run accounts at every one of them and pay every thirty days like clockwork....when I need service, they will generally jump on my machine cause they know they will get paid promptly....business relationships, be it with my customers or my suppliers is something that I take seriously. When tough times happen, and they will, I know I have a dealer that will take care of my problems. Saving a few dollars vs putting it back into the companies that employ my neighbors is paramount to me......


Local relationships are vital. You need them to be successful. I support my local dealer - I pay up front - and with 4 tractors and 3 balers and the associated maintenance, etc. my costs at their business is in the thousands every year.

Even given that, you still have to pay attention to your "bottom line". 'Cause the only support I'm likely to see from them is a big grin at my farm auction!


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## RuttedField

We had a guy here who could sell tractors, Dale the Whale he was called because he was pretty big.

The local dealer fired him because he did not like his practices. They were shady, but not. He just understood that dairy farmers (they rule here) could make monthly payments, but not down-payments, so he fussed with the numbers and got people financed.

After being fired, a tractor company up north hired him. Once a week he came down from 5 hours up north and sold tractors down here and put a hurting on the dealer who had fired him. It was not that they were jumping ship, its that they could be financed!

Then ole Dale had a heart attack and the dealership up North fired him citing his health care costs. Never knew what became of him after that.


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## luke strawwalker

r82230 said:


> Hasn't WCT been in Sealy, Brenham and ??? (I don't remember the name of the town) for a while?
> 
> FYI, I bought my NH T5-115 from WCT (Washington County Tractor maybe).
> 
> Larry


WCT just used to be up in Brenham IIRC... (yes on the acronym). Seems like maybe they had another store... wasn't Bellville I don't think, maybe Hempstead or something?? I don't get up that way too often anymore (other than going to the Ren Fest and tractor shopping is OUT on those days!) I stop in and look around from time to time in Brenham when I'm up that way (not all that often). I was looking at a New Holland 9 foot 3point hay mower they had our there that needed some TLC, thought maybe we could make a deal, but they wanted WAY too much for it...

I thought WCT bought out Potters in Columbus but I'm not sure... I hear things from time to time that just ain't true... LOL The old Sealy Ford store got bought out by the guy who's the Kubby dealer now (can't for the life of me remember what they were before-- I used to drive around their lot when I'd go up to Sealy to the cattle or equipment auction... they closed it down within a couple years and just use the building and land for storage of equipment and stuff now. WTC built a new store down on the feeder off the south side of I-10... Nice store too, and they were really easygoing when I went in to ask about their NH 3 pt hay mowers... had a pretty good price too.


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## luke strawwalker

506 said:


> Hey JR - Shoppa's jumped north of I-10 and recently bought out Jaeger's in Giddings. So, they keep expanding. CP in Navasota still beats them on price even though CP has fewer stores.


That's good to know... wouldn't be hard to beat a Shoppa's price on ANYTHING actually.... Who is "CP"?? That would be good information to have...

Yep, they bought Jaeger's out I guess... Jaeger's bought the Shiner Filley not that long ago (few years at most) so it surprised me to see that Shoppa's gobbled them up that quick... Figured Shoppa's wouldn't be that interested in those small town stores like Shiner and Giddings, since that's all hay and cattle grazing country and very little row crop stuff... (and what there IS is usually small and older/cheaper stuff). I'm sure Ma Deere was behind that merger...

Forgot about the NH store over in LaGrange... looked around there last year when I had to take Dad to the eye doctor across the road...

Later! OL J R


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## luke strawwalker

RuttedField said:


> We had a guy here who could sell tractors, Dale the Whale he was called because he was pretty big.
> 
> (Snip)...
> 
> Then ole Dale had a heart attack and the dealership up North fired him citing his health care costs. Never knew what became of him after that.


Yeah, we had a car dealer like that here... his name was Dan. Older guy, really nice, NO BS approach...

I could walk around the lot and look at used trucks or cars and not be harassed... If I saw something I liked, I could stick my head in the door and ask Dan straight away, "What's the best you can do on *this* or *that*?" He'd tell you, too... no BS, no bait-n-switch, none of the slick willy BS games that most car salesmen play... Usually he'd be writing up a sale when you stuck your head in the office as well. If the other salesmen came out and started fishing or circling around like vultures and started all the usual BS smalltalk that took them into their song and dance routine, I just waved them off... "I'll wait for Dan, thanks!" and walked off.

He'd be straight up with you about what you were looking at, too... "Oh, you probably don't want that one-- it was a contractor truck" or whatever the case might be that might make you look twice. If the price was something you could live with, you could think it over and make a deal. If not, well, he'd have something else within a few weeks usually. When he told you the bottom line price, that was it... take it or leave it, no wasting time dickering. He knew the lowest that they'd go for in the front office, and that was that. He didn't waste time on a lot of nonsense... Like he told me one time "most folks just want to cut to the chase and be done with it... I was taught all those salesmanship games when I started out, and I found that I could make WAY more money just cutting to the chase and figuring out the best I could do for the customer, and if they like it, we do the paperwork, and if not they split and I move on to another customer... I can sell five cars a day when most guys playing games are lucky to sell five a week..." He was right, and he made more money and did more sales than any three salesmen in that dealership (which wasn't a small one by any stretch) put together.

When we bought our new 92 F-150, we went straight to Dan. He did the deal, but since he was in USED sales, they wouldn't let him do the paperwork on a NEW vehicle, so he handed it all off to his son, who was in new vehicle sales, and he signed off on it and finished the paperwork-- he and Dan would do that from time to time and "pay each other back" the commissions between themselves.

I miss old Dan... he was a straight shooter. We could use a heck of a lot more of em!

Later! OL J R


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## 506

JR - Sorry. CP = Coufal Prater


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## luke strawwalker

506 said:


> JR - Sorry. CP = Coufal Prater


Ah ok... I've driven through some of their lots up around Temple or Gatesville before...

I bought my 7100 planter from a dealer up in Comanche, TX... don't recall if they were CP or not. Got a good deal on it though!

Later! OL J R


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## Lewis Ranch

Cp is one hell of a nice dealership. Top notch folks and extremely fair, I've bought several pieces sight unseen from them and it's always been better than expected. I'd recommend them to anyone.


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