It’s just the way the cookie crumbles.

A slow economy has area sales of Girl Scout cookies at their lowest levels in recent memory.

Jennifer Rush, communications manager for the Girl Scouts of Kaw Valley Council, said sales in the area are down by about 30,000 boxes, or 6.5 percent, compared with previous years.

“We think it is just the slow economy,” Rush said. “We know the same people who have bought cookies continue to buy but just can’t afford to buy as much as they had last year. That’s just the way it is.”

The downturn isn’t just happening in the Kaw Valley area, which includes Douglas County and 12 other area counties. The council that serves the Wichita area is reporting a 121,000 box decline, or about 15 percent, compared with last year’s totals.

“This is probably the worst it has been in many, many, many years,” said Ann Sanders, product sales manager for the Wichita-area Girl Scouts of the Golden Plain Council.

In the Lawrence area, Rush said the council is asking Girl Scouts to set up more “cookie shops,” which are booths at stores where people can buy boxes of cookies on the spot. So far, Girl Scouts are operating cookie booths on Friday evenings, Saturdays and Sundays to try to reverse the downturn. The cookies cost $3 per box, which has been the price since 1997 when they were raised from $2.50.

Thus far, the booths — which are at Wal-Mart, Kmart, Hobby Lobby and Checkers — are scheduled to run through Sunday. But Rush said the low sales totals may cause the council to ask its Girl Scouts to sell longer.

“We haven’t set a wrap-up date for sales to end because it seems the booths are having some effect,” Rush said. “It might help us get closer to our goal.”

The sales are an important part of the budget for Girl Scouts. Rush said that cookie sales made up 67 percent of the council’s $1.2 million annual operating budget. The slowdown in sales is expected to cost the council about $64,000 in revenue.

Rush said much of that money is used to fund troop activities, such as field trips, camp outs, and leadership programs.

“It will affect the programs for the girls,” Rush said. “We’re not to the point where we’re saying it will seriously hurt them, but there will be an effect on them.”

For people who ordered Girl Scout cookies, Rush said the cookies are in, and should be delivered to customers no later than March 5.

— The Associated Press contributed to this report.