Lisle’s French market gets room to grow
Lisle’s French market will spend one more season near a pond before it’s set to move to a larger spot downtown.
Village trustees have approved an amended license agreement with the market’s operator, Bensidoun USA, and a supplemental license for a new downtown event after tabling a decision last month and requesting changes to the proposed terms.
The agreement now includes an incentive clause intended to increase the number of French market vendors that offer produce and other fresh food.
Bensidoun will receive a 25% rebate of the village’s per market fee from June 1 through Sept. 1, contingent upon having at least five fresh food vendors in 2025 and a minimum of 10 such vendors in 2026 and 2027.
As part of the amended agreement, the village increased the per market fee charged to Bensidoun from $10 to $50.
Bensidoun plans to continue operating the market at its current site on Garfield Avenue, just east of Prairie Walk Pond, for this upcoming season. The market then is expected to set up shop in a commuter parking lot along Burlington Avenue for the 2026 season and beyond.
The lot can accommodate as many as 36 to 40 vendors.
“We’re hoping that an event like this with 40 stalls in an adequate area, with plenty of parking in the downtown area and draws to everything else, will draw people from out of town,” Mayor Chris Pecak said at a January committee of the whole meeting.
A draft amendment to the French market agreement previously called for a longer term continuing until the end of October 2030. Trustees instead agreed to a term running from May until Oct. 31, 2027.
The supplemental license agreement also will set the stage for new food truck markets in Commuter Lot B. Food trucks are scheduled to roll up weekly in June, though Village Manager Eric Ertmoed has indicated that “if it’s successful, we could add a few dates in September before the cool weather sets in.”
Bensidoun will pay the village an annual flat fee of $900 to operate the food truck markets.