The Second Chance Store at 847 Mass. closed at the end of January after having been in business in Lawrence for more than 30 years. Store employees Elise Loney, left, and Emily Lundberg sorted hangers on Tuesday.

There’s no Second Chance in Lawrence anymore.

A longtime downtown business closed at the end of January, but the economy was only partly to blame.

A new consumer protection law was the primary reason for the closing of Second Chance Children’s and Maternity Store, 847 Mass., managers said.

“The economy was making things difficult; we were struggling,” assistant manager Emily Lundberg said.

“We were still planning on staying open; the last straw was the new law,” manager Diana Buchanan said.

The new federal law makes it illegal for anyone to sell children’s items such as toys and clothes that contain lead or phthalates commonly found in plastics. It was supposed to go into effect this month. Businesses would have to have their merchandise tested for lead and other materials.

Second Chance bought secondhand toys, clothes and other children’s items from the public and then resold them. The store also sold other merchandise, such as maternity wear.

There is confusion over the new law, however. Thrift stores — which Second Chance was considered to be — are exempt. But there still isn’t anything to keep them from being held liable if someone gets lead poisoning from an item purchased from a thrift store. At least that’s how Second Chance interpreted the law.

But just as the law was to go into effect this week, on Tuesday, the federal government delayed its implementation for a year. The delay was intended to give lawmakers an opportunity to clear up confusion about the law.

Nevertheless, Second Chance decided to close a few weeks ago. Consideration had been given to other ways of keeping the store open, such as expanding the maternity wear section and switching the customer focus to it. But it would have taken too long to build up that part of the business in this troubled economic time, Buchanan said.

Second Chance had been in business in Lawrence for more than 30 years. It had been at its current location for the past five years. It was owned by G.R. Laughlin, husband of the late Amy Laughlin, who also owned the store until her death last year.