Tractor Supply has opened its doors in the Ceres Gateway Center just a week before the debut of the 2023 Christmas shopping season.

Construction on the project quickly commenced following the Ceres Planning Commission’s March 6 approval of the tentative parcel map and a Specific Plan Site Plan for the 21,702-square-foot Tractor Supply, garden center, outdoor display and forage shed.

Tractor Supply sells clothing and apparel, pet supplies, work boots and shoes, farm and ranch supplies such as ag fencing and gates, sprayers, tanks and pumps, tractor parts, livestock handling equipment, and ATV and UTV attachments. It does not, however, sell tractors.

“It has a regional commercial design so we’re expecting that this store will draw people from not only our city but the surrounding community and it will be a good addition to also our sales tax base,” said Christopher Hoem, director of Community Development for the city of Ceres.

The Ceres Tractor Supply store is seven miles from the nearest Tractor Supply which is on Walnut Avenue in Turlock.

The Ceres store has posted hours until Dec. 23 of 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, and 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sundays. On Christmas eve the store will be open 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. and closed Christmas day. 

The first Tractor Supply store opened in 1938 in Minot, N.D., and as of Sept. 30, the company operated 2,198 Tractor Supply stores in 49 states. 

The shopping center, located south of Service Road between Mitchell Road and Highway 99, has been developed with an In-N-Out Burger, Starbucks, Chipotle, Popeye’s Chicken, Ono Hawaiian BBQ and Quick Quack Car Wash. Construction is underway on a four-story Woodspring Inn & Suites hotel that will be completed in 2024.

The remaining development is a Union 76 gas station with some kind of fast-food tenant.