“Shedding Some Light” is a regular feature on the Opinions Page that will consist of our spin on local, state and national issues.
Vendor Fair — are we onto something here?
In 1956, Tracy leaders came up with a promotion that encouraged downtown businesses — and there were many of them back then — to open their doors, and keep them open for an entire day.
The idea was for them to be able to sell off items at bargain prices in bazaar-like style before they rebuild their stock for the coming year. Stinker Day, as it was called, was also a way for business owners to rejuvenate a cordial customer-merchant relationship in an era of busy five-and-dimes and quaint mom-and-pop shops.
As the number of businesses dwindled and foot traffic slowed, the Stinker Day tradition quietly ended in the 1980s.
Downtown Tracy in 2026 can’t compare with what it was like decades ago, and we’ll probably never be able to replicate that long-gone atmosphere and feeling of community, at least not on 3rd St. Besides Box Car Days, downtown is mostly quiet. We commend the people who have recently started businesses on 3rd and cross our fingers for a prosperous future for each, but for the most part, downtown just isn’t what it used to be.
That’s why we can’t understate what happened this past Saturday at the Vendor Fair. There was a buzz, an actual buzz. No, there was no loud music playing, not a ferris wheel in sight, but there was a buzz, and my how we have longed for it.
Indeed, downtown Tracy came alive Saturday, if only for a few hours, and this is especially important in a day when downtowns in all small towns struggle to draw people in.
There will never be another Stinker Day, but Saturday’s event — with vendors, face painters and even Disney princesses — gave us hope. We saw adults shopping and heard wide-eyed children giggling. It was the perfect blast from the past.
Mom and pop would be proud.
