Buying a meal or a piece of used merchandise shouldn’t be a problem for visitors to downtown Lawrence.

But it may be a bit more difficult these days to find “traditional” retail items, some longtime observers of the city’s central business district say.

Dave Wright, owner of Play It Again Sports, says re-sellers fit well with downtown.

“I’ve watched downtown for 30 years, and it has definitely moved away from the traditional retailer,” said Kelvin Heck, a commercial real estate agent with Grubb & Ellis/The Winbury Group. “The shoe stores, the stationery stores, the clothing stores aren’t as common as they used to be.”

Recent analysis backs it up:

l According to listings in current and past telephone directories, the number of restaurants in the area has increased by about 130 percent from the early 1980s. And the number of retailers who sell used merchandise as a significant part of their business has grown even faster, increasing by about 500 percent in the same period.

l Data gathered by a Kansas University business class found about five retailers in 1984 who were re-sellers on Massachusetts Street. That has grown to about 30 today.

It’s working

But the shifting landscape hasn’t created panic in the downtown business community. In fact, many say the increasingly mixed nature of the area has crowds flocking to the area.

“It is hard to argue with the success of downtown Lawrence today,” said Joe Flannery, president of Weaver’s Department Store.

And despite perceptions to the contrary, Flannery said downtown retail was healthy.

Aerial photo of downtown Lawrence looking north. Vermont Street is at left and Massachusetts Street is in the middle. In the foreground is the north end of South Park, 11th and Massachusetts streets.

“When people take a minute to think of the new retail that has come to downtown in the past seven or eight years, we still have added quite a bit. My perception is we have a nice selection of mainstream retail,” he said.

“You look at places like Urban Outfitters, American Eagle, and Talbots, I think those have been nice additions.”

Still, Flannery said he supported city commission consideration of new regulations aimed at keeping downtown from becoming too saturated with bars.

“That’s probably a good issue to look at,” he said. “I think we already have a pretty good selection of places to buy a drink downtown.”

National trend

Heck, the real estate agent, said the changes in downtown were neither surprising nor unique to Lawrence. The loss of so-called traditional retailers is common to the new retail landscape across the country.

“I think the changing face of retail is something that we all have had to come to grips with,” Heck said. “A lot of retail dollars are being spent at places like Target and Kohl’s and those type of places aren’t downtown.”

The fact that restaurants, bars and re-sellers have stepped in to fill space once occupied by traditional storefronts is what makes downtown Lawrence different, Heck said.

“I was walking in downtown Topeka recently and there are a lot of empty storefronts and a lot of buildings that haven’t been renovated for 20 or 30 years,” he said. “It was a completely different feel. I like the feel of our downtown much better, even though it has changed.”

Ror re-sellers in downtown, business has been good.

Some detractors

Jennifer Sievers, owner of Arizona Trading Co., 734 Mass., said the idea of used merchandise was becoming more accepted.

“I think the attitude has changed about used merchandise in general,” said Sievers, whose store sells used clothing. “It’s not the old thrift store idea anymore. It is something more hip that appeals to a wider audience.”

Joe Flannery, president of weaver's department store, says downtown Lawrence is attracting shoppers and business is good.

There are some concerns about the trend. John Kiefer, president of Lawrence-based Kief’s Audio-Video, 2429 Iowa, opened Kief’s CDs and Tapes, a used music store, on Massachusetts Street about five years ago. But he said he had concerns about a proliferation of used merchandise sellers changing the image of downtown from that of a “plaza-like shopping area” to a flea market.

Dave Wright, owner of Play It Again Sports, 1029 Mass., agreed that a secondhand image probably wasn’t desirable for downtown. But he said he didn’t see the downtown gaining that image anytime soon.

“I don’t think people feel like downtown is some sort of flea market,” Wright said. “I think they just kind of stumble onto our stores. But the stores that are down here now are drawing traffic, and anything that draws traffic, I think, is great for downtown.”