Lawrence sales tax falls as World Cup visitors near arrival

Lawrence retailers are heading into the World Cup with weak sales momentum and a growing bet that soccer traffic can fill the gap. The city’s May sales tax check fell 4.8% from a year earlier, and year-to-date collections are down 0.8%, leaving Lawrence as the only major retail market in Kansas showing a decline so far this year.

The numbers matter because Lawrence leans heavily on sales tax for daily operations, and the latest check points to a split economy. Use tax collections, which capture online purchases, rose 8.8% in May and are up 15.1% for the year, adding about $51,000 more than a year ago. But brick-and-mortar sales tax brought in about $135,000 less, a gap that left local storefront commerce in the red even as city revenue held up through internet sales.

That comes at a sensitive moment for downtown merchants, restaurants and bars that have spent weeks dressing storefronts for the tournament. Businesses along Massachusetts Street, in North Lawrence and elsewhere have added World Cup-themed displays, flags, shirts and signage, while Johnny’s Tavern and other bars have been preparing for the surge in soccer traffic expected as matches get underway in Kansas City during FIFA’s June 11 to July 19 tournament window.

Lawrence officials have spent about two years preparing for the city’s role as a base camp, beginning around 2022 and moving into biweekly planning after an incident-command structure was approved in summer 2023. The city’s efforts paid off when the Algerian national team announced on Feb. 19 that it would use Lawrence as its base camp. The team arrived shortly after midnight on Monday, June 8, and was scheduled to hold its first practice at Rock Chalk Park that day while staying at the Oread Hotel.

The key question now is whether the tournament becomes a short-lived bump or a longer-term sales boost. At a Lawrence Chamber of Commerce prep event on April 13, business leaders were told to “think higher” about the World Cup’s potential, with FIFA estimates suggesting more than 600,000 visitors and more than $600 million in regional economic impact. But the latest tax data suggests Lawrence is entering that moment from a position of vulnerability, with in-person retail still lagging even as online spending helps keep the books from slipping further.