Downtown retailers gear up for annual sidewalk sale

There are no promises of Ferris wheels or cotton candy, but merchants are telling shoppers to expect a carnivallike atmosphere Thursday in downtown Lawrence.

The 33rd annual Downtown Lawrence Sidewalk Sale will be from sunup to sundown Thursday. Organizers are predicting the event will draw its usual crowd of about 20,000 visitors who flock to the area to find deals from about 100 retailers that participate.

“It is definitely a time where there are some wonderful bargains,” said Maria Martin, director of Downtown Lawrence Inc. “But more than that, I think it is the atmosphere that attracts people. It really takes on the feel of an outdoor carnival and bazaar.”

Merchants usually begin setting up merchandise about 6 a.m. and are ready for customers by 7 a.m. Most merchants usually remain open until 7 p.m. or 8 p.m., Martin said.

“The sidewalks are absolutely packed,” said Martin, the owner of Southwest and More, 727 Mass. “It is just wall-to-wall people.”

The throngs are a beautiful sight for retailers, said Tim Arensberg of Arensberg Shoes, 825 Mass.

“You just see more people in that one day than you might in a month,” Arensberg said. “Then when you get that many people down here it feeds on itself. It becomes a frenzy.

“People come down here for the bargains, but once you are here, you see old friends or neighbors or somebody you went to high school with. It becomes a real event.”

For bargain hunters, the day often turns into a marathon shopping experience, said Tonyell Ray, a sales clerk at Jayhawk Spirit, 935 Mass. Ray said shoppers were drawn to the event because it was one of the few times they could go to dozens of sales in a matter of hours.

Amy Poklinkoski, left, and Tonyell Ray, sort through items for the annual sidewalk sale. The salesclerks worked Tuesday at Jayhawk Spirit, 935 Mass., one of several downtown businesses that sell discounted goods at the annual event.

And the savings can be significant. Ray said Jayhawk Spirit would have a variety of merchandise marked down between 20 percent and 50 percent. Arensberg said some shoes would be marked down 90 percent. Martin said discounts of between 30 percent and 50 percent were common.

“You basically know that you can get something cheaper at the sidewalk sale than at anytime else,” Ray said. “Last year I even bought a large pizza for $5 and I haven’t seen that good a deal since.”

Both Ray and Arensberg said the sale produced among the highest single-day sales totals of the year for their stores, but profits aren’t always the best because of the discounts.

The 33rd annual Downtown Lawrence Sidewalk Sale will be from sunup to sundown on Thursday. Organizers said most retailers begin selling merchandise by 7 a.m. and remain open until at least 7 p.m.The Lawrence Transit System will provide free rides Thursday.The event also will feature a brown bag lunch concert by the Alferd Packer Memorial String Band at noon at Ninth and Massachusetts streets, in front of the US Bank building.Thursday’s forecast, according to 6News chief meteorologist Matt Sayers, calls for a high of 87 degrees with a slight chance of rain in the morning hours.

Martin said the sale provided a needed boost to merchants during an otherwise slow period of the year.

“Some people actually call this their best day of the year,” she said. “For others it turns out to be about as good as their best day during the holiday season.”

But Martin said the biggest benefit of the sale could be the notoriety it provides for the downtown area. She said she routinely receives calls from residents across Kansas, in Nebraska and Missouri wanting to confirm the date of the sale. She also expects many people who attend their first sidewalk sale come back again on a less busy day to enjoy downtown’s ambience.

“The sale really is a great advertisement for the downtown, and really the entire city,” Martin said.