Another Lawrence store is set to slide out of business due to the slow economy.

Jon Francis, owner of Sportcenter, 840 Mass., said he’s decided to close the store after nearly nine years in business because sales had slowed enough that running the operation wasn’t worth the time it was taking away from his other downtown business, Francis Sporting Goods, 731 Mass.

Francis said the store would close by March 26 or sooner depending on how quickly merchandise is sold as part of a going-out-of-business sale that is under way.

Francis said the slowing economy had put a damper on some people’s desire to spend money on the latest in athletic shoes or apparel of their favorite professional or college athletic team, which are the major products the store sells.

“Economic times weren’t great,” Francis said. “The store wasn’t losing money, but it also wasn’t making a lot of money either.

“I just decided it wasn’t worth the time. I would get to work at 7 in the morning and get home at 10 at night, and I just don’t want to do that anymore for a store that’s not making a lot of money.”

Francis said the other reason behind closing the Sportcenter store was to give him more time to prepare Francis Sporting Goods, which his grandfather and father opened in 1947, for what is sure to be increased competition in the future.

Eric Genovese, 22, Lawrence, tries on some shoes at the Sportcenter, 840 Mass. The store is having a going-out-of-business sale as it prepares to close by late March. Genovese shopped at the store on Tuesday.

“I’m pretty confident that within five years some big (sporting goods) chain will come in and locate in Lawrence,” Francis said. “We’ll be ready for that, though.”

Francis is preparing for the competition by expanding the store’s team business sales. He recently hired a full-time salesperson to travel to universities, junior colleges and high schools throughout eastern and central Kansas and parts of western Missouri. The business can provide the schools with uniforms and sporting goods equipment to outfit the various athletic teams.

Francis says the business currently sells to about 50 schools and universities in the area, and it has seen its sales increase by about 30 percent during the past year since concentrating more on the business.

“That’s another reason I wanted to get into the team sales business, because I know there will be more competition in the future,” Francis said. “I think we’ll always have a niche in the retail market, but this gives us another thing that the big chain stores normally don’t do.”

Francis said he was uncertain how many employees will lose their jobs when Sportcenter closes. Francis Sporting Goods and Sportcenter have about 20 employees that the businesses share, and he said he’ll make a decision about how many employees to keep toward the end of March.

Francis leased the building from Park Hetzel III. Hetzel said he didn’t yet have a new tenant for the building.