Jon Francis isn’t waiting around for Dick’s Sporting Goods, a chain of running-shoe stores or any other competitor to move into Lawrence and cut into his long-cultivated lead in the retail business.

So he’s stretching the field.

Francis, owner of Francis Sporting Goods in downtown Lawrence, is preparing to open a new warehouse, showroom and offices near the Kansas Turnpike to accommodate a growing segment of his business: sales for team sports.

The shop’s Team Sales Division, established in 2002, has recorded sales increases of 20 percent each year, he said, and his client roster now includes more than 80 schools, junior colleges and universities.

Francis outfits dozens of teams at various levels of competition, from uniforms for kids at Iola Middle School to compression shorts and socks for the men’s basketball team at Kansas University.

It’s all part of Francis’ game plan to keep winning in an increasingly competitive market.

“Eventually, there will be a big box that comes in here, and that will take some of the pie,” said Francis, whose father, George Francis, opened the family sporting goods shop on Massachusetts Street in 1947. “You need to have something else to rely on.

“Team sales have just been phenomenal : and this is our way of being prepared and being ready to weather whatever comes our way.”

Jon Francis, owner of Francis Sporting Goods, 731 Mass., is expanding his business to include a new warehouse, showroom and offices at 411 N. Iowa St. for sales of team sports equipment and uniforms. Francis was working at the warehouse Wednesday.

The new warehouse, showroom and office project will occupy 4,700 square feet at 411 N. Iowa St., where he has a two-year lease with three two-year options. He hopes to have the place available for welcoming coaches, athletic directors and others by Feb. 1.

After that, Francis plans to get to work on his next project: the family store, at 731 Mass., which is slated for an overhaul expected to cost about $80,000.

The plan is to install fire-suppression sprinklers, remove an existing false ceiling and otherwise update and preserve the building that dates back to 1858, five years before Quantrill’s Raid left much of the rest of downtown in ruins.

As Francis sees it, the renovation project will allow Francis Sporting Goods to continue its long run of operations downtown, extending the familiar “Over 50 Years of Kickin’ Mass” slogan to 60 years and beyond.

“Retail will not be ignored at all,” Francis said. “It’s an integral part of our business. We can’t ignore that and don’t want to ignore that. There is a need, and if we don’t fill that need, somebody else will.”