After April 30, Thursdays to Be a Field Day for Shoppers : Business: A new Farmers Market at The Exchange on Brand Boulevard will bring fresh produce--and perhaps fresh customers--to downtown.

Freshly harvested fruits and vegetables, trucked directly from the fields and orchards of nearby farmers, will become available this spring in downtown Glendale under a plan adopted Tuesday by the Glendale Redevelopment Agency.

On Thursdays beginning April 30, colorful, striped canopies will be erected to shade produce and shoppers and to help convert parking stalls along the 100 block of North Brand Boulevard in front of The Exchange shopping area into an outdoor market.

Fresh flowers, pastries, coffee and live entertainment will be featured in what officials say is one of the few markets to be set in the core of a downtown shopping district. The Brand Boulevard market is expected to emulate older European markets and draw visitors from throughout the area.

“A farmer’s market can help breathe new life into a downtown, generating pedestrian activity and community interaction,” said Jeanne Armstrong, redevelopment director.

Shoppers who might not otherwise visit the upscale retail stores and variety of restaurants in and around The Exchange will become familiar with it and return, Armstrong told the City Council, which serves as the redevelopment agency.

Members unanimously endorsed the idea by allocating $40,500 to operate the market for the first year.

Initially, about 25 farmers are expected to participate in the market, which will also include stands for foods and flowers sold by merchants within The Exchange, Armstrong said. Members of The Exchange Merchant’s Assn. have agreed to help establish the market.

The angled parking area on the east side of Brand between Broadway and Wilson Avenue will be closed Thursdays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. The market will operate from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Shoppers will be directed to park in the city’s Urban Garage on Maryland Avenue.

Eventually, the number of vendors could grow to 50 or more and lead to development of a larger permanent area with shops and eating areas, Armstrong said. The market could serve as “a strong catalyst for establishing Glendale as not only a first-class office city, but an entertainment and tourist destination as well,” she said.

The program will be managed by Certified Farmer’s Markets, a Pasadena partnership that operates five other markets in Burbank and the San Gabriel Valley. Gretchen Sterling, a consultant with the partnership, said such markets are becoming popular across the country--about 200 operate in California alone. Farmers from as far away as Fresno and San Diego are expected to participate.

“Shoppers like to talk to someone who has actually grown what they are buying,” Sterling said, “to learn that there is such a thing as crooked carrots and blemished fruit. They learn what is in season, not just shipped from Chile.”