Dealer News Update

R.N. Johnson, Walpole, NN, announced it will close on March 28. Majority owner, Alan Johnson’s decision comes about a month and a half after John Deere canceled its dealer agreement with the business after 84 years. Deere equipment made up about 50% of R.N. Johnson’s sales.

Johnson said he and his staff exhausted every possible means to secure new tractor lines, and get financing to allow R.N. Johnson to continue operating.

“We did end up finding three tractor lines to replace John Deere, but because of the impact the recession had on our financial condition, we weren’t about to get the financing we needed,” Johnson said.

RDO Equipment Co., Fargo, ND, recently named Mark Kreps as Vice President of Sales — Agriculture. Kreps will be responsible for overall sales strategy and execution across the company’s agriculture division. In addition, he will continue his leadership over the Core Accounts team, which works with large customers in RDO Equipment Co.’s agriculture regions.

Kreps has nearly 30 years of sales and management experience. He started his career with RDO Equipment Co. 18 years ago as a Sales Manager for four locations in North Dakota’s Red River Valley. In 1997, Kreps became the Store Manager for several agriculture locations, and since 2001 has been leading the Core Accounts team and serving customers across the agriculture region.

“In this new role, Mark will leverage his success and knowledge of creating lasting partnerships with some of our organization’s largest customers to the entire Ag sales team, and as part of the leadership team companywide,” said Christi Offutt, CEO.

Titan Machinery Inc. said it has acquired Adobe CE, LLC, consisting of one Case Construction equipment dealership located in Albuquerque, NM.

The Albuquerque location represents the company’s first dealership in the state. In its most recently reported fiscal year, Adobe CE, LLC generated revenue of approximately $8 million.

David Meyer, Titan Machinery’s Chairman and CEO, said, “We are excited to expand our construction equipment footprint into New Mexico, and we look forward to establishing our brand in this new market. New Mexico is strategically located between our Colorado and Arizona markets and has good market potential for new and used construction equipment and parts and service sales, as well as for associated rental demand. With this acquisition, Titan Machinery now has a contiguous Case Construction footprint from Arizona to the Canadian border.”