A new forestry and agricultural equipment store, location on 248 Main St. in Dillwyn, opened for business Monday.

James River Equipment sells John Deere equipment for Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina.

Store Manager Steve Richardson said in an interview Monday the store representatives are “extremely excited” for the Dillwyn location. He said customers drive from far away, including from Dillwyn and Buckingham, to the store location in Burkeville.

Richardson said now there’s a store for foresters and agriculturalists in the area.

Forestry Manager Ken Powell said the store has a heavy focus on forestry, noting the large forestry industry in Buckingham.

It was Buckingham’s impact on that industry that prompted Powell to approach Mark Romer, James River Equipment president about putting a location in the county.

Powell said the close proximity to highway routes make the location ideal as well.

Richardson said the goal is to make the store a full-service location, meaning that technicians would be on-site to repair equipment. As of now, the store only sells parts. The store can dispatch technicians on job sites if needed, or repair equipment at its locations in Burkeville, Ashland or Fishersville.

The store sells forestry and agriculture equipment such as lawn mowers; skidders, used for logging in which the trucks remove fallen trees from a forest; knuckleboom loaders, which loads logs to a trailer to be transported to mills and feller bunchers, which gathers and cut trees.

There would be five staff members at the store, which include Powell, Richardson and three primary staff members who would focus on selling parts.

The location was formerly Bullock Brothers, which sold equipment from competitor company Tigercat.

The building is 6,000 square feet. Powell said the Dillwyn store is relatively small compared to other Virginia locations. Powell and Richardson said there’s the potential for expansion of the current store.

The store also includes parts, tools, paints, even John Deere hats and toy logging trucks.

Powell said a grand opening has not been scheduled, but that store representatives definitely plan to have a ceremony.

“It hasn’t been planned yet, but yes we’re definitely going to have one,” Powell said. He also said they would wait until the ground has dried from the rain.