photo by: Mike Yoder/Journal-World File Photo

The sun warms up shoppers outside Weaver’s Department Store at the corner of Ninth and Massachusetts streets during the annual Downtown Lawrence Sidewalk Sale, Thursday, July 18, 2019.

Downtown Lawrence Inc. has decided to cancel the Annual Downtown Lawrence Sidewalk Sale because of the coronavirus pandemic.

DLI Executive Director Sally Zogry said in a news release that given health mandates and guidelines to stop the spread of the virus, it would be irresponsible to encourage thousands of shoppers, especially many from outside of the community, to converge downtown on one day. However, efforts are underway to help downtown businesses sell the merchandise they would typically offer during the sale.

Zogry said in the release that DLI was working on a virtual sale to help local retailers sell their inventory. The event will allow businesses to sign up to hold a Facebook Live sale on the Downtown Lawrence page. The virtual event will most likely span a week to give every business that wants to hold a virtual sale the opportunity to do so. DLI will provide more information about the virtual sale via social media and email in the next couple of weeks.