Hal Lawton

Harry A. Lawton III (born July 4, 1974) is an American businessman. He is president and chief executive officer at Tractor Supply Company. He is also a member of the retailer’s board of directors. He was the president of Macy's from September 2017 to December 2019.^[1][2][3][4]

Hal Lawton
Born	July 4, 1974 Kingsport, Tennessee
Nationality	American
Alma mater	North Carolina State University and University of Virginia
Occupation	Businessperson
Known for	CEO at Tractor Supply Company, Former President of Macy's

Hal Lawton, CEO of Tractor Supply

Early life and education

Lawton was born in Kingsport, Tennessee, in 1974, where he attended Sullivan South High School. His father worked at Eastman Chemical Company in Kingsport. Lawton grew up playing basketball at the Boys and Girls Club, delivering papers for the Kingsport Times-News and attending St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. ^[5]

Lawton holds dual bachelor's degrees in chemical engineering and pulp and paper science technology from North Carolina State University, where he was a recipient of the Caldwell scholarship and selected to the Fellows leadership program.^[6][7][8] He holds a Master of Business Administration from University of Virginia Darden School of Business, where he was awarded the William Michael Shermet Award.^{[9][10][11][12]}

Career

Lawton started his career in a paper mill in rural North Carolina. In 2000, he joined McKinsey & Co. and was an associate principal till 2005. From 2005 to 2015, Lawton held different positions at The Home Depot, including President Online and SVP Merchandising.^{[13][14][15][16]} From August 2015 to September 2017, Lawton was the SVP of eBay North America. From September 2017 to December 2019, he served as the president for Macy's.^{[17][18][19][20]}

In January 2020, at the age of 46, Lawton returned to Tennessee and began serving as the chief executive officer and president of Tractor Supply Company. He is also a member of the Company's board of directors. During Lawton’s first year as CEO, more people began gardening and owning pets and livestock due to the COVD-19 pandemic and Tractor Supply Company saw revenue growth of 27 percent.^[21] The company was deemed an essential business.^[21] In 2022, Tractor Supply reached #294 on the Fortune 500 list. In February 2023, Tractor Supply extended the terms of Lawton’s contract for another three years, to 2026, with an evergreen extension going forward.^[22]

Lawton serves on the board of directors of Sealed Air Corporation located in Charlotte, NC and previously served on the board of Buffalo Wild Wings.^{[23][24][25][26][27]}

Lawton is a member of the Business Roundtable, serving on the board of directors 2024-current, and National Retail Federation board of directors. He was a member (Agriculture) of the Great American Economic Revival Industry Groups, created by US President Donald Trump. US President Joe Biden highlighted a phone call with Lawton in @POTUS posts on Twitter and Instagram where they discussed the passing of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act and inflation.^[28]

Tennessee

Tractor Supply is currently one of the 10 Fortune 500 companies in the Tennessee. The company is headquartered in Brentwood, TN and has been in the Nashville area since 1978.^[29] Adam Sichko, writer from The Nashville Business Journal, published an interview on corporate culture that he did with Joe Scarlett, Jim Wright, Greg Sandfort, and Hal Lawton. The four CEOs comprise the past 31 years of top leadership at the company. ^[30]

Lawton is a board member on the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce. He is also on the Tennessee Business Leadership Council, and on the board of Trustees for Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art. He was named by the Nashville Business Journal as Most Admired CEO in 2021, 2022 and 2023, and to the POWER 100 in 2021, 2022, and 2023. He was a guest columnist in The Tennessean on April 7, 2021, with "How Tractor Supply Company is helping vaccinate rural American against COVID-19".^[31] He wrote an Op-Ed in The Tennessean on October 20, 2021, with "Why businesses should follow Tractor Supply’s push for diversity, inclusion, and climate change prevention".^[32]

Personal life

He lives with his wife, Jodie, in Nashville, TN. They have three children. ^[5]

References

1. Nassauer, Sarah (April 8, 2020). "Tractor Supply CEO Talks Pet-Food Hoarding During the Pandemic". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
2. La Monica, Paul R. (December 5, 2019). "He tried to fix Macy's. Now he is the new Tractor Supply CEO". CNN. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
3. Loeb, Walter. "Macy's President Hal Lawton Resigns". Forbes. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
4. "He tried to fix Macy's. Now he is the new Tractor Supply CEO". WRAL.com. December 5, 2019. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
5. "Tractor Supply CEO enjoyed Kingsport's 'out here' lifestyle while growing up".
6. "NCstate – Summer 2012 – page61". ncstatemagazine.gtxcel.com. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
7. "Wall Street Thinks His Tractor's Sexy". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
8. Steiner, Ina (December 5, 2019). "Former eBay Exec Named CEO of Tractor Supply Company". EcommerceBytes. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
9. "Biografía de Hal Lawton – The Official Board". www.theofficialboard.es. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
10. "Millennials ditching cities for the US countryside are boosting sales at rural businesses, the CEO of a $22 billion agriculture retailer says". Business Insider. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
11. "Tractor Supply Appoints Macy's Executive Hal Lawton As CEO – Quick Facts". www.nasdaq.com. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
12. Kellaher, Colin (December 5, 2019). "Macy's Executive Departs to Run Tractor Supply". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
13. Shoulberg, Warren. "Tractor Supply, With New Acquisition, Continues To Outperform Retail Sector". Forbes. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
14. "Harry A. Lawton III – President and Chief Executive Officer at Tractor Supply Company". The Org. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
15. Crets, Stephanie (June 21, 2018). "Macy's names a Home Depot technology executive as its chief technology officer". Digital Commerce 360. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
16. "Macy's new president marks a bold move in the fight against Amazon". www.herbertmines.com. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
17. Ramos, Rachel Tobin. "Home Depot Web site gets major renovation". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
18. "Leadership Advice for CEOs and Entry Level Professionals from Hal Lawton '96, President & CEO of Tractor Supply Co". Poole Thought Leadership. March 5, 2021. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
19. "Who is Tractor Supply Co, and Why Did Hal Lawton Go There?". The Robin Report. December 19, 2019. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
20. "President and Chief Executive Officer". www.businessroundtable.org. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
21. "How poultry and a pandemic put Tractor Supply ahead of the pack". Fortune. Retrieved January 18, 2022.
22. "Tractor Supply gives CEO big vote of confidence; names new chairman". Chain Store Age. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
23. "Tractor Supply CEO expects shift to e-commerce to continue". postalnews.com. April 9, 2020. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
24. "Market Rally Continues as Shares of Technology and Retail Firms Rise". The New York Times. Associated Press. August 23, 2017. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
25. "Macy's President Leaves as Company's Troubles Mount". Fortune. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
26. Moin, David (December 5, 2019). "Hal Lawton Leaving Macy's to Run Tractor Supply Co". WWD. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
27. "Macy's exec takes top spot at Tractor Supply". Chain Store Age. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
28. Sichko, Adam (June 10, 2022). "Inflation and an invitation: Tractor Supply CEO recounts his one-on-one call with President Biden". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
29. Davis, Molly (September 5, 2023). "Tennessee-based Tractor Supply has huge expansion plans. Here's the data-driven reason why". Tennessean.
30. https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2024/01/04/tractor-supply-co-tsco-growth-culture-ceos.html
31. "How Tractor Supply Company is helping vaccinate rural American against Covid-19". Tennessean. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
32. "Why businesses should follow Tractor Supply's push for diversity, inclusion, and climate change". Tennessean. Retrieved October 20, 2021.