PENDLETON — Year after year, the Pendleton Round-Up manages to change enough to keep people engaged in the rodeo’s future while staying the same enough to honor the event’s history.

The same goes for the vendors who sell food and wares during the rodeo. Some stay in the same location for decades while others stake out new locations to try to bring in new customers. Some are first-timers working to make a name for themselves while others are Round-Up classics with annual customers visiting.

Vendors on Main Street reserve spots through the Main Street Cowboys, while those on private lots work with the property owners to rent space. The latter group is growing, said Main Street Cowboys President Ken Hegge.

“We have more people down there (by the arena) than previous years,” he said. “There is an increase in vendors, and Round-Up has limited space.”

The Corndog Co. of Central Oregon, based in Bend, tried to get the best of both worlds. The company maintained its Main Street booth while adding a mobile trailer at the corner of Southwest Court Avenue and 17th Street.

Chelsea Shank, with the Corndog Co., said the location, which is away from most of the other vendors, seemed to be slow Sept. 11, the first day of the rodeo.

“This is kind of an experiment for us,” Shank said. “We’re really relying on that footpath traffic to aim in for us.”

Erin Purchase, who owns the property as well as Kind Leaf Pendleton, said she hopes the trailer’s presence was mutually beneficial. Workers in the trailer could keep an eye on the parking lot for her and the space right off of Court Avenue may appeal to patrons walking to or from the rodeo. The location marked the latest expansion of vendors through the city.

“I think it’s a good opportunity for our town to have them come in and have stuff for people to do outside of the rodeo grounds,” Purchase said. “I’m hoping for success this year.”

Other vendors took more traditional approaches.

On Main Street, Jesse Gonzalez was learning the ropes of working Round-Up as a first-time vendor with his Bend-based business, Crepe-oh-holics. He’s been in business for just more than a year and said he decided to work the rodeo because he had heard good things.

“I just heard it’s a very good event and it brings a lot of people,” Gonzalez said. “Everybody’s been really nice, the music’s great, food’s good. We’re having a good time.”

Just behind Crepe-oh-holics was B&B Concessions. Owned by Bobbi Jo Weeks and based out of Nampa, Idaho, the concession trailer has been a staple on the first block of Main Street for 27 years.

Weeks, who took over about five years ago from her father, said she loves the spot they’ve held each year and believes consistency helps with keeping repeat customers.

“I love this spot right here, and my customers, they all know where I’m at,” Weeks said. “Once you move, people, they have tunnel vision.”

But moving was the right decision for Dave Smith, owner of Northwest Shirts and Sports out of Canby, and his wife, Karyn, owner of Nana’s Choice. The pair used to have space for their side-by-side businesses in the Dave’s Food Mart lot, they said, but they weren’t happy with it because they were tucked away and hard for passersby to see.

The Smiths’ location might have been more central than the Corndog Co.’s, but both represent the expansion of vendors during Round-Up, highlighting the push and pull between growth and tradition.

Five years ago, they connected with the owner of the Pendleton Quicky Lube property on Southwest Court, who let them rent the lot. Now, their businesses are street-facing and they get more foot traffic, Dave said. He said his annual customers followed him from the original location and continued purchasing gear from him, regardless of the location.