Layaway makes a comeback during troubled times

By Candice Nelson
WSLS10 Reporter
Published: November 14, 2008

As the countdown begins for Christmas shopping, so do the sales. As Patti Tribley looks around in Sears, she’s seeing more than numbers and dollar signs. One sign reads “Layaway is back at Sears.”

“Layaway is a good way to go. When my daughter was very small, that was the only way I could pay for Christmas,” Tribley said.

That may be the case for many others this year, a win-win.
     
“I think it’s a great thing. I think it’s a great opportunity for Sears to draw customers in and is going to help both the customer and Sears,” said Lee Cox, operations manager at the Sears in Valley View Mall.

If you want to put something on layaway, you would just take it to any register in the store at Sears.  Over at K-Mart on Franklin Road, it has a special layaway department – not a new service for the store, but a first for some shoppers like Missy Bowles.
   
“This is the first time I’ve done it. I usually go shopping on Friday after Thanksgiving and fight the traffic, but I think it’s good the way they do layaway and the economy the way it is right now,” said Bowles as she shopped for her son.

She’s not the only one who’s grateful as shoppers loaded up their carts for the holiday season.

“Leave it up to me, I’ll be layaway Grandma. I love layaway, everybody should have it and everybody should give everybody a break,” said Lena Medina as she shopped at K-Mart.

As Tribley finished looking around at Sears, she said, “It’s a good thing for everybody, I think.”

And maybe a little relief in trouble economic times.

Ten On Your Side talked to a Sears media representative. She said the layaway service is something Sears stores are trying out since the company saw how well K-Mart is doing with it. Sears stores are waiting to see how customers respond to the layaway service before the company makes it permanent.

You may remember two years ago, Wal-Mart made the decision to get rid of layaway because of falling demand and rising costs. We called Wal-Mart in Roanoke and a manager told us they still do not offer the layaway service.