photo by: Peter Hancock

Shoppers hit Massachusetts Street on Friday, Nov. 23, 2018, looking for Black Friday bargains as the holiday shopping season gets underway.

Some Lawrence stores encountered an unusual stretch of slow business on one of the busiest shopping days of the year. Black Friday just happened to coincide with a University of Kansas football game taking place just a few blocks away.

Mackenzie Lomshek, manager for Mass Street Mercantile, said the store was packed when it opened at 8 a.m. The business sold several Jayhawk sweatshirts and other items, she said.

But when the game kicked off at 11 a.m., customers at the store, located at 738 Massachusetts St., quickly dwindled.

“Last year (Black Friday) was crazy,” she said Friday morning. “It’s kind of slow right now.”

KU’s game against Texas on Friday may have been the first game it ever played on Black Friday, or the day after Thanksgiving, though various historic archives disagree on dates.

Sally Zogry, director for Downtown Lawrence Inc., said the game may actually be a positive for the businesses. While it may have been slow during the game, the fans — even those from Texas — could make the trip downtown afterward.

In the past, KU often played a final home game on Saturday during Downtown Lawrence’s annual Small Business Saturday.

But in 2007, KU and the University of Missouri began playing their annual rivalry game at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo., the last week of the season, and many businesses in downtown Lawrence were upset about the loss of foot traffic and sales, Zogry said. However, KU resumed playing regular home games at the end of the season when Missouri left the Big 12 Conference in 2012.

Texas fans walk down the 600 block of Massachusetts Street after a KU-Texas football game on Nov. 23, 2018.

Owners and managers of the downtown businesses seemed upbeat with the possibility of more customers when the game ended.

Steve Schoepflin, owner of Shark’s Surf X Supply, said business started off slowly Friday morning, but he expected to see an influx after the game. Football did not bring in a lot of foot traffic to the store this season, which is likely because of the team’s poor play, he said.

“I don’t know how many Texas fans came into to town and how many people are going to watch,” he said. “I’m hoping the day flips.”

After the game, foot traffic in downtown Lawrence did seem to pick up significantly, with a sea of pedestrians sporting KU and Texas clothing.

Other businesses seemed to be less affected by the game. Chris Luxem, inventory manager for the Raven Book Store, said the store was seeing a pretty good amount of shoppers.

The clientele of the store at 6 E. Seventh St. may not overlap with the “clientele” of football games; still, Luxem predicted even more customers later in the day.

“After the game it will be crazy,” he said. “Everyone is going to be funneling out onto the street.”

Indeed, store employees said they noticed many more customers after the game.

Alyssa Karasek and Emerson Cole check out the Black Friday deals at Game Nut,844 Massachusetts St., on Nov. 23, 2018.

Gene Nutt, owner of Game Nut, 844 Massachusetts St., said his store rarely gets a lot of customers on Black Friday, noting he did not advertise for the shopping day. But this year he saw a good stream of customers during the game.

“It’s been busy,” he said.

Nutt said that in the past the business usually focused on Small Business Saturday instead. Many businesses in downtown Lawrence will partake in the Saturday event, offering special deals throughout the day.

A list of deals will be posted on the Downtown Lawrence Inc. website and a Facebook page for the event.

“We want people to shop local,” Nutt said of Small Business Saturday. “If you don’t visit us, at least shop local.”