Shoppers browse along Massachusetts Street.

Brett Grady thinks many of his fellow downtown merchants are missing out on a good selling strategy.

“Alcohol is one of the best things to help sell your merchandise,” said Grady, office manager for The Third Planet, 846 Mass.

That’s why his store makes sure it is always open after folks partake in those two-martini dinners that are becoming more prevalent downtown.

The Third Planet is one of a handful of downtown stores that stays open past 6 p.m. on weekdays. But more may be on the way.

Or better put, some city leaders hope more are on the way.

“I really wish more of the merchants downtown would be open during the dinner and evening hours,” new City Commissioner Lance Johnson said during a recent City Commission goal-setting session. “I think some of the old ways of doing business aren’t working as well as they used to.”

Johnson said he knows the city can’t mandate what type of hours merchants keep in downtown. But as concerns grow that downtown Lawrence is becoming too heavily weighted toward restaurants, instead of retail, Johnson said now would be a good time for merchants to rethink their strategy.

“I would think that some of the eclectic shops we have downtown could take advantage of the foot traffic that we get from the dinner and evening crowds,” Johnson said. “I know that my family and I like to go downtown either before dinner or after dinner, but about all we can do is window shop.”

Jane Pennington, director of Downtown Lawrence Inc., said such discussions are gaining steam. The organization is hosting a member event on June 10 that is expected to include a discussion of evening shopping hours.

But Pennington said it is not always easy for small businesses to extend their hours.

“There are some limits to what a mom-and-pop business can do,” Pennington said. “But I do think it is a concern because, like it or not, Lawrence is becoming somewhat of a bedroom community for Topeka and Kansas City. For people who work in those places, they may not be able to get downtown until after six.”

Some retailers, though, said they weren’t convinced that evening shopping hours would be a big boost for business. A majority of retailers do stay open until 8 p.m. on Thursdays, and some said sales are light on those nights.

“Honestly, it hasn’t done much for us,” said Morgan Mattison, co-owner of Eccentricity, 716 Mass. “We get traffic, but mainly it is just people who want to walk around and are looking for something to do.”

But some retailers said they may be ready to think about the idea again. Larry Billings — an owner of the Lawrence Antique Mall, 830 Mass. — said his business may consider opening later in the day in order to stay open later in the evening.

“I don’t necessarily want to be down here until 8 every night, but it’s something we might consider,” Billings said. “We need to do something to get a higher percentage of Lawrence customers downtown. That’s a key for downtown.”