The Park Ridge Farmers Market Committee approved spending on new branded tents and moved to trademark the market's logo at its Wednesday, Aug. 19 meeting, capping months of discussion about how to invest in the 36-year-old institution's identity.

Both items appeared as formal action items on the committee's agenda. The tent purchase will outfit designated areas — a Market Tent, Community Tent and Kids Activity Tent — with branded canopies the committee first discussed at its July 15 meeting. The trademark vote authorizes spending to formally register the market's logo, a step the committee began exploring in June when it took up "Protecting Market Logo" as an action item.

The logo question reached the City Council level before returning to the committee for a final vote. The council's Procedures and Regulations Committee of the Whole discussed the market's intellectual property and potential trademarking at its July 20 meeting.

Wednesday's agenda also included a discussion item to add language to the market's rules of operation governing how the logo may be used by vendors and partners.

The votes come during a transitional season. The market opened May 23 without the former AT&T parking lot at 36 S. Prairie Ave. for the first time. The property's owner, Reign Capital, which purchased the site from AT&T in 2021, has proposed redevelopment. The market shifted westward toward Garden Street, adjacent to Cumberland Park, where the Park Ridge Park District offered to provide picnic tables and portable restrooms.

Co-market master Stephanie Goodrich told the Chicago Tribune on May 25, opening day of the 2026 season: "It's never the same market. We're always changing."

The committee voted 8-0, with one abstention, at its July 30, 2025 meeting to recommend the market remain on Prairie Avenue, operating entirely on publicly owned property. The city was pursuing eminent domain to secure the site, according to Park Ridge Park District board records from spring 2026.

The Farmers Market runs Saturdays, 7 a.m. to 1 p.m., at 15 Prairie Ave. in Uptown Park Ridge through Oct. 31.