Hello, and welcome to the annual meeting of stockholders of Tractor Supply Company. I'm the operator for this meeting. Please note that today's meeting is being recorded. During the meeting, we'll have a question-and-answer session. Shareholders can submit questions or comments by clicking on the Q&A icon. It is now my pleasure to turn today's meeting over to Edna Morris, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Tractor Supply Company. Ms. Morris, the floor is yours.
Thank you. Good morning. My name is Edna Morris, and I am the Chair of the Board of Directors of Tractor Supply Company. On behalf of the company, I'd like to welcome you to the 2025 annual meeting of stockholders. This meeting is being held virtually via webcast. We're committed to open dialogue with shareholders and appreciate your engagement with us. It's now 8:00 A.M. Central Standard Time, and in accordance with the notice of this meeting, the meeting is now formally called to order. The meeting will be conducted in accordance with the rules of conduct available on the meeting website. The purpose of today's meeting is to consider each of the items set forth in the notice of this meeting. Until voting is closed, you may vote your shares using the vote function of the meeting website if you have not already done so.
Should you have a question or comment that relates to a proposal being presented, you may submit your question through the meeting website. Please submit your question as soon as possible and prior to the discussion of the proposal, if possible. Once we have considered each of the items in the proxy statement and voting is closed, we will adjourn the formal business portion of the meeting and have a question-and-answer session. Following the close of voting, we will announce preliminary results of the meeting. First, let me introduce the individuals who have been nominated to serve as directors on our board until the 2026 annual meeting of stockholders: Joy Brown. Joy is the Senior Vice President and Chief Digital Information Officer for Boston Medical Center Health System. Rick Cardenas. Rick is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Darden Restaurants. Meg Ham. Meg is the President of Food Lion.
André Hawaux. André is the former Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, and Chief Operating Officer of Dick's Sporting Goods. Denise Jackson. Denise is the former Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary for AMN Healthcare Services. Ram Krishnan. Rom is the Chief Executive Officer of PepsiCo Beverages North America. Mark Weikel. Mark previously served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Retail Optical North America at Luxottica Group. Harry A. Lawton III. Hal is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Tractor Supply Company. Myself, I am the Chief Executive Officer and Partner of Range Restaurant Group.
I would also like to introduce the following members of the Tractor Supply Company management team who are with us today: Kurt Barton, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, and Treasurer, Melissa Kersey, Executive Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer, Rob Mills, Executive Vice President, Chief Technology, Digital Commerce, and Strategy Officer, John Ordus, Executive Vice President, Chief Stores Officer, Seth Estep, Executive Vice President, Chief Merchandising Officer, Colin Yankee, Executive Vice President, Chief Supply Chain Officer, Matthew Rubin, Divisional Vice President and Senior Vice President of PetSense by Tractor Supply, Kimberley Gardner, Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer, and Noni Ellison, Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary. I would also like to introduce Doug Ives from our transfer agent, Computershare, who is serving as our Inspector of Election.
Finally, I'd like to introduce Josh Trusley from Ernst & Young, our independent auditors, who will be available to respond to appropriate questions from stockholders later in the meeting. We have at this meeting a report of stockholders entitled to vote at this meeting and the proxies received from stockholders, a copy of the notice of annual meeting of stockholders, the proxy statement, the annual report for the most recently concluded fiscal year, and an affidavit of service of notice of the meeting certifying that these documents were mailed to the stockholders of record of Tractor Supply Company on or about March 27, 2025. These documents will be filed with the records of the company and Computershare, our registrar and transfer agent.
The list of the stockholders of record at the close of business on March 21, 2025, who are entitled to vote, showing their respective addresses and the number of shares held by each, has been open to the examination of stockholders for more than 10 days prior to this meeting, as required by Delaware law and the company's bylaws. In addition, the list is available at this meeting in electronic format for inspection by the stockholders present. The bylaws of Tractor Supply Company require that a majority of the shares of common stock issued and outstanding as of the record date must be present in person, virtually, or by proxy in order to hold this meeting and conduct business. Our Corporate Secretary has been in charge of the proxy process. May I now have the Corporate Secretary's report on whether a quorum is present?
Madam Chair, there are present at this meeting virtually or by proxy more than a majority of the shares issued and outstanding at the close of business on March 21, 2025, the record date for this meeting, which constitutes a quorum.
Thank you. This meeting is now duly convened for the purposes of transacting business properly before it. The matters to be acted upon today will be considered in the order set out in the proxy statement. The time is 8:05 A.M., and the polls are now open for these proposals. The report of the Inspector of Election with respect to the votes cast will be given after the conclusion of the vote on all items. There may be stockholders virtually attending the meeting who have not already voted by proxy or who wish to change their previous proxy vote. If there is anyone in either of these categories, please submit your vote through the meeting website. Stockholders of record as of the record date will be able to ask questions regarding items on the agenda. Please submit any questions through the meeting website.
The first item on the agenda is the election of directors. The Board of Directors nominates the following individuals to hold office until the 2026 annual meeting of stockholders or until their successors are duly elected and qualified: Joy Brown, Rick Cardenas, Meg Ham, André Hawaux, Denise Jackson, Ram Krishnan, Harry A. Lawton III, Edna Morris, and Mark Weikel. As stated in our proxy statement, the board recommends a vote for each of these nominees. A nominee will be elected to the Board of Directors if the votes cast for the nominee exceed the votes cast against the nominee's election.
However, in an uncontested election such as this one, if an incumbent director does not receive a majority of votes cast for his or her election, the director is required by the company's director resignation policy to submit his or her resignation to the Board of Directors for consideration by the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee. The committee will consider the tendered resignation and make a recommendation to the board of whether to accept or reject the resignation. The board will take action within 60 days of receipt of the committee's recommendation and will publicly disclose its decision. I will now pause to address questions submitted regarding the director nominees.
There are no questions.
The company has not received timely notice of any other nominations by a stockholder as required under our bylaws. Therefore, I declare the nominations closed.
If anyone is voting through the meeting website, please submit your vote now on item number one. After voting has been completed on all matters on the agenda, the votes for each item will be counted. The second item of business on the agenda is the ratification of Ernst & Young LLP, as the company's independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending December 27, 2025. As stated in our proxy statement, the board recommends a vote for such ratification. I will now pause to address questions submitted regarding the ratification of Ernst & Young LLP, as the company's independent registered public accounting firm.
There are no questions submitted.
There being no questions on the proposal, the discussion is closed. If anyone is voting through the meeting website, please vote now on item number two.
The next item on the agenda is a proposal for a non-binding advisory vote to approve the compensation of the named executive officers of the company. As stated in our proxy statement, the board recommends a vote for such proposal. I will now pause to address questions submitted regarding the advisory non-binding vote on the compensation of the company's named executive officers.
There are no questions submitted.
There being no questions on the proposal, the discussion is closed. If anyone is voting through the meeting website, please vote now on item number three. The next item of business is a vote on the approval of an amendment to the restated certificate of incorporation to provide for the exculpation of officers. I will now pause to address any questions submitted regarding the vote on the amendment.
There are no questions submitted.
There being no questions on the proposal, the discussion is closed. If anyone is voting through the meeting website, please vote now on proposal number four. That concludes the voting on the item set forth in the proxy statement. I will pause briefly to allow stockholders to submit any final votes. I now declare the polls to be officially closed for all matters. The time is 8:10 A.M. Central Time. The Secretary has presented the preliminary Inspector of Election report to me, which is as follows. The nine nominees named in the proxy statement have been elected as directors to serve until the 2026 annual meeting or until their successors are duly elected and qualified. The appointment of Ernst & Young, LLP, as the company's independent registered public accounting firm for the 2025 fiscal year has been ratified. The advisory vote to approve our executive compensation has been approved.
The amendment to the restated certificate of incorporation to provide for the exculpation of officers has been approved. At this time, does the representative from Ernst & Young LLP, our auditor, desire to make a statement?
No.
Thank you. Any questions for our auditors?
There are no questions submitted.
The formal business portion of the meeting is now adjourned. We will file a Form 8-K announcing the final results of the meeting after we receive the final Inspector of Election report and in accordance with the timeframe required under the SEC's rules. Hal Lawton will now provide an update on the company's business.
Thank you, Edna. In 2024, Tractor Supply achieved record financial results on both the top and bottom line. Net sales were nearly $14.9 billion, and diluted earnings per share were $2.04. During the year, we continued to have solid market share gains across our major product categories, which contributed to our total sales growth. This performance comes on top of four record years of financial performance for Tractor Supply. Our solid results in 2024 allowed us to continue to deliver on our commitment to return value to our shareholders. For the fourth consecutive year, we returned more than $1 billion to our shareholders through the combination of dividends and share repurchases. This marked Tractor Supply's 15th consecutive year of dividend growth. Other highlights of our performance in fiscal 2024 include the following: we opened 80 new Tractor Supply stores and 11 PetSense by Tractor Supply stores.
The team has done a fantastic job opening highly productive stores, and this remains a core strength and competency of Tractor Supply. We completed more than 160 Project Fusion store remodels. Nearly 50% of our store base is now in our Project Fusion layout, and garden centers are active in 585 locations. With more than 38 million members, our Neighbors Club loyalty program is one of the largest in retail. It accounted for approximately 80% of our sales for the year. We maintain robust retention rates and engagement with our high-value customer retention rate at a record level. Tractor Supply's digital business had another record year with sales topping more than $1.1 billion and more than 10.5 million downloads of our mobile app since inception. Our customer satisfaction scores continue to hit all-time highs.
This is a tribute to our extremely engaged team members who bring our promise of legendary service to life and are executing at the highest levels daily. Investments in our supply chain continued with the grand opening of our 10th distribution center last year in Maumelle, Arkansas, and the expansion of our mixing center footprint to a total of 16 locations. At the end of the year, we successfully acquired Allivet, a leading online pet pharmacy. This is a great example of unlocking new opportunities for growth. We look forward to integrating Allivet into our business and offering the service to our millions of Neighbors Club members who are our pet owners. One of the things that makes Tractor Supply truly exceptional is the care we show for each other, for our communities, and for our customers.
Together with our customers, we donated more than $16 million to the communities we call home in 2024 through direct giving, sponsorships, fundraisers, and more. During the year, the Tractor Supply Foundation awarded the second class of FFA Future Leader Scholarships to 143 students across the country. These important scholarships support the next generation of farmers and those pursuing rural lifestyle careers, including skilled trades. Our five-year commitment to the scholarship fund totaling $5 million makes it the largest agriculture scholarship of its kind. My deep appreciation goes to the team for their dedication to making a difference. With our Life-Out-Here strategy, we built on Tractor Supply's long-standing commitment to invest in our powerful flywheel. The past five years have seen substantial business transformation.
We've delivered on our strategy, and not only are we operating from a higher level of performance, we have not given back any of the gains that we've had over this time. As we embark on the next phase of growth for Tractor Supply with our Life-Out-Here 2030 strategy, we're creating horizons of growth that we expect to last through the end of the decade. As we enter 2025, our upcoming initiatives, scale, and capabilities demonstrate how we'll continue to meet the evolving needs of our customers. We look forward to continuing our journey of growth and innovation in the farm and ranch channel. All the credit for Tractor Supply's success goes to our team members who are committed to taking care of each other and our customers. The strength of Tractor Supply lies in our team and our culture and living our mission and values every single day.
Collectively, because of this incredible group, our people, our customers, our vendor partners, and the communities we serve, I'm more excited than ever for what's ahead. To our stockholders, we are grateful for your support and confidence with your decision to invest in Tractor Supply. Now we will take any questions. Seeing no questions, we will adjourn the meeting. Thank you so much for your support of Tractor Supply.
This now concludes our meeting. You may now disconnect.