SALEM, Ore. — At the Oregon State Fair, some vendors say they’ve been left nearly invisible to customers this year, placed in areas far from the fair’s main crowds and food courts.

Many vendors say their locations this year set them up for failure.

“Many of us, when we got there on the first day, saw where we were located," said Jade Alexander, owner of Tokyo Dog Designs. "We saw that we were next to dumpsters in Porta Potties. And we were basically in the back empty parking lot of one of the buildings...It felt very much an afterthought and that we were all kind of smushed over there either with bad planning or just no consideration to what we need to be successful.”

For some, the annual event is the biggest source of income all year.

“One of the people I talked to, he said that this

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