Bigger will be better.
That might just be the theme for the J.J. Nichting Company as contractors broke ground last week for a new 45,000 square foot building to be constructed near the West Liberty intersection of Interstate 80, it was announced this week by company officials.
The Case implement dealership based in Pilot Grove announced they will be combining facilities in West Liberty as well as Tipton with the development – a move the customer-service oriented firm says will better serve their agriculture customers.
Jeremy Marston, the chief operating officer for the local branch, said the company purchased 15 acres of property – enough to expand even more in the future – from the Walt Lehman Farm at the intersection of Garfield Road and 300th Street in Cedar County. He said the new building would face Garfield Road, where an entrance will be built as construction of the new steel building should start to rise in late October and is hoped to be ready for customers by mid-summer 2021.
J.J. Nichting purchased the 82-year-old H.D. Cline Company in West Liberty and Tipton on Oct. 8 last year, growing Nichting’s north central Iowa platform to five operations including Mt. Pleasant, Sigourney and Pilot Grove.
Marston, who has been with the company 18 months and 15 years of farm implement management, said the new building will be state-of-the-art, with a high-tech training center for customers, 17,000 square feet of space for parts, 25,000 square feet for repair service, plus a showroom that will offer Case gear, tools and toys, something he said is very limited at the present two stores. There will also be plenty of acreage in the front of the store to display new and used implements.
He said the training center will be named for Walter Lehman of Lehman Farms, a valued, life-long customer of the firm and highly respected member of the community.
“Right now, the footprint for both our Tipton and West Liberty stores is a combined 35,000 square feet,” he said, noting there will be a huge emphasis on growing the parts department.
“Right now, Pilot Grove has the largest Case parts department in the Midwest,” Marston said. “We plan to match it.”
He said it’s important customers have the parts to keep their implements operating during any season. “We’ll have more parts and more product to help keep them going,” the COO said. Another asset will be the addition of a bulk oil tank where farmers will be able to purchase their oil in bulk, reducing costs.
Marston said the company plans to stay involved with the communities they serve, noting it’s important the company continues an investment in local programs and organizations.
The firm conducted a map study of customers from the two stores and decided on the location based on their top 200 customers, finding the property in the center of that nucleus while also wishing to get close to the interstate to help attract employees and make it easier for trucking as well as customers having access to the store.
He’s been working on plans for the new development since the company bought Clines, working with General Manager Pat McCrabb and Chief Financial Officer Shane Dolohanty. He said the two stores were both “land locked” for expansion. “There was just no opportunity to grow.” Custom Builders of Tipton has been awarded the role of general contractor and started moving dirt on the property this week in preparation for the construction.
Marston said the size of today’s implements, as well as the size of farming operations, also helped shape the decision, noting adaptations were made in the present facilities to be able to service giant combines and tractors. Changes in technology in farming also played a role, noting the company has two full-time technology specialists in the operation that can help with precision planting and harvesting, GPS programs and other new technology on modern farm equipment.
Marston said the decision to close stores and create one center wasn’t an easy one, but said it was “best for our customers” to create one big store. He said the company will combine its 19 West Liberty employees with nine Tipton employees and says it’s looking to add more service personnel.
He said local farmers hearing about the move are “pretty excited” for the company and to be able to get parts quickly when they run into problems, “getting support when they need it the most.”
Marston said a major celebration will take place once the new store opens so everyone in the area can get an opportunity to see the new facility.
Marston said both Tipton and West Liberty facilities, which have three buildings each, will be vacated. The company had been leasing the buildings from the Cline family, which has reportedly placed the structures on the market in both communities.
J.J. Nichting Company, now in its third generation of family ownership, is known as a leading agricultural dealer with the largest parts inventory in the tri-state area of Iowa, Missouri and Illinois. Founded in the tiny community of Pilot Grove, the business was started by the Nichting family in 1920 and had over 60 employees with 700 combined years of ag experience before buying the Cline operation.
The two stores serve a four-county area in east central Iowa including Muscatine, Cedar, Johnson and Washington as well as Mercer and Rock Island Counties in Illinois. Overall, Nichting serves 19 counties.