The city has a brand new retail task force, but there’s nothing new about most of the retail issues that face Lawrence.

Sandwiched between two much larger metro areas that have the populations to support far greater retail options, retail “leakage” is a perennial problem for Lawrence.

Then-Mayor Rob Chestnut appointed the new task force earlier this year at least partially in response to a dip in Lawrence’s retail “pull” numbers. The city’s ability to draw shoppers from outside its borders now has dropped below the state average.

The task force is charged with assessing the city’s retail strengths and weaknesses and considering what Lawrence can do to better market itself to retail operations.

What makes city leaders think they can tell retail developers something about the local retail market that they don’t already know?

Marketing Lawrence to retailers is a lot different than marketing to other industries. Large industrial enterprises can use tax breaks or other incentives to get established here, but their businesses usually don’t rely on local customers to keep them afloat. No matter what incentives are used to market Lawrence to retail businesses, those businesses won’t survive unless they are supported by customers who either live in or visit Lawrence. Rather than marketing Lawrence to businesses, Lawrence needs to supply the retail market that will keep those businesses alive.

Lawrence is a complicated retail market. We want many of the national retailers that already have outlets in Topeka and Kansas City, but even when those businesses come to Lawrence, we may prefer to go to one of the bigger stores in another town. The market for chain stores among shoppers from outside Lawrence is extremely limited because most people who live 10 miles outside of town probably will choose to hop on Interstate 35, Interstate 70 or Kansas Highway 10 and go to the bigger store.

That’s why it seems that Lawrence’s most effective retail strategy is 1) try to entice Lawrence residents to do more of their shopping at home and 2) provide some kind of special experience that will draw shoppers away from Topeka and Kansas City and into Lawrence.

The issue of Lawrence residents shopping at home is partially tied to the number of local residents who work in — and tend to do more shopping in — Kansas City and Topeka. Even retail sales are tied, in some way, to the need to create more jobs in Lawrence. Nonetheless, customer service and convenience can go a long way toward encouraging people to shop local.

When it comes to offering a special experience for both local and visiting shoppers, it’s obvious to look to Lawrence’s downtown. Increasing residential development downtown will help support a variety of retail enterprises that also would help draw in people who are looking for something other than the typical chain-store, suburban shopping center kind of experience.

The point is, retail businesses know all about marketing. If Lawrence provides the kind of retail market they can be successful in, they will come here. The market itself is the incentive. The city might find ways to make it easier for new retail businesses to use existing shopping center space or meet code requirements to remodel space in downtown, but, for the most part, it’s the future customers, not the city, that will make the business succeed or fail. That’s the bottom line.