Company Profile · Retail · Bozeman, Montana
Murdoch's Ranch & Home Supply
The modern mercantile that started with three rules on a paper napkin - feed and fencing, tools and tack, Carhartt and toys, all under one roof.
The modern mercantile that started with three rules on a paper napkin - feed and fencing, tools and tack, Carhartt and toys, all under one roof.
John Murdoch had spent some 36 years in the ranch-and-home supply business before he decided there was a better way to do it. He figured the good, useful goods that ranchers relied on could serve everyday folks too - without abandoning the working ranchers who knew the difference between the right feed and the wrong one. So he wrote down what mattered on a paper napkin: carry lots of down-to-earth merchandise; be a place the whole family likes to visit; and be a place where the customer is always met with thanks.
In 1994 he opened the doors to his first store in Bozeman, Montana - five team members and eighteen parking spaces. It was not much of an empire. But the idea traveled. By 1996 the store had outgrown its space and moved to its current Bozeman location. Two years later it stretched to nearly 50,000 square feet, and new stores began appearing in towns like Montrose, Colorado and Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Today Murdoch's operates roughly 40 stores across Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Idaho, Nebraska and - since 2025 - Texas. Roughly 2,200 team members staff its aisles, and annual revenue runs near $500 million. The company still calls itself a "modern mercantile," which is a precise description: part farm store, part hardware store, part outfitter, part garden center, part general store.
What has not changed is the logic on that napkin. Walk into a Murdoch's and you can pick up chicken feed, a chainsaw, a Carhartt jacket, a bag of soil, a birthday gift, and refill your propane on the way out. The store is built around the whole customer - the same person who needs livestock feed on Tuesday might be buying a toy on Saturday.
"Carry lots of down-to-earth merchandise; be a place where the whole family likes to visit; and be a place where the customer is always met with thanks."
Murdoch's sells the full range of what a rural or suburban household needs to run a place and outfit a family. The catalog spans farm and ranch supplies, livestock and pet feed, animal health, tools and hardware, power equipment, lawn and garden goods, sporting goods, and work and Western apparel - more than 100 national brands plus a growing private label.
Its customers are working ranchers and farmers, homeowners, pet and livestock owners, hunters, anglers, gardeners, and families across the Mountain West and Texas. The problem it solves is fragmentation: instead of a feed store, a hardware store, a clothing shop and a garden center, Murdoch's puts a season's worth of errands under one roof - staffed by people who actually ranch, hunt and garden themselves.
Fencing, gates, livestock handling, feed and tack for working operations.
Hand and power tools, plus STIHL power equipment and in-store repair.
Carhartt, Ariat, Wrangler, Under Armour, Crocs and Murdoch's private label.
Pet and livestock feed, animal health and grooming products.
Seeds, soil, garden tools, outdoor furniture and a seasonal garden center.
Hunting and fishing gear, toys, home goods, gift cards and propane refills.
Murdoch's competes in the farm-and-ranch retail category alongside national and regional chains such as Tractor Supply, Atwoods, Coastal Farm & Ranch, Bomgaars and Big R / North 40 Outfitters, plus general home-improvement retailers. Against the national giants, its edge is regional identity and hands-on expertise; against small local feed stores, its edge is selection and a true multi-category store.
Its 2025 move into Texas is a bet that "Western living" is a lifestyle, not a region - and that a Montana mercantile can win Gulf-Coast customers with the same formula. The company pairs its stores with murdochs.com e-commerce, a rewards program, and in-store services like power-equipment repair and propane refills.
"Everything for Western living."
Bars are relative and rounded from reported public estimates, shown for scale rather than exact comparison.
John Murdoch opens the first Murdoch's with five team members and 18 parking spaces.
The Bozeman store moves to its present location to keep up with demand.
Bozeman grows to nearly 50,000 sq ft; new stores open in Montrose, CO and Cheyenne, WY.
Dozens of stores span Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Idaho and Nebraska.
New large-format stores open in Alvin (January) and San Angelo (March).
Roughly 2,200 team members and near $500M in annual revenue.
Farm and ranch supplies, livestock and pet feed, tools and hardware, power equipment, lawn and garden goods, sporting goods, and work and Western apparel and footwear - 100+ brands plus private label.
Headquartered in Bozeman, Montana, with roughly 40 stores across Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, Texas and Wyoming, plus murdochs.com.
John Murdoch founded the company in 1994, opening the first store in Bozeman after decades in the ranch-and-home supply business.
Yes - it entered Texas in 2025 with new stores in Alvin and San Angelo and continues to grow its store count.
About 2,200 team members and roughly $489-500 million in annual revenue.