With Christmas shopping season near and credit card companies jacking up interest rates, consumers might want to revisit one payment option that’s making a comeback.
Layaway.
Just this year, Sears revived its year-round layaway policy and other retailers – including Boscov’s and TJ Maxx – push their plans in advertisements.
At Boscov’s at The Galleria, General Manager Rick Bausher said the chain never did away with layaway.
“It’s always been strong,” he said, noting the layaway sales figures of $5,100 from last weekend – Sept. 26-27 – alone.
“We do layaway all year long,” he said. “Obviously, it does spike significantly in the holiday season, beginning in October through Thanksgiving.”
Layaway may be a sound alternative to racking up bills on a charge card. The average layaway purchase at Boscov’s is for $50, and more than 1,000 customers take part in a given year.
Boscov’s is making a conscious effort to advertise its layaway program, he said, as other stores revive their retro practices.
Bob Boldin, an IUP finance professor, said that retailers are savvy.
“I suspect the stores are probably encouraging this as a way to keep business, instead of losing a sale because a customer might not have the full amount,” he said Friday.
“This was very popular a number of years ago. It tended to go out of favor because people were earning more money and paying for an item either with a credit card or some other way.
“The interesting part of this is a number of stores might offer credit cards, but people are maxed out,” he said, in line with the national economic downturn.
Also pushing customers to buy on the installment plan, Boldin said, are lower credit card limits, higher interest rates and tighter credit rules.
“When people don’t have money, they still want to do it (spend),” he said.
And now is the time, Boldin said. About 60 percent of yearly purchases are made during the holiday season.
At Sears, Manager Rick Gibson said, “We brought it back based on customer feedback. Our customers are loving it.”
He said 1989 was the last full year of layaway at Sears, except on jewelry.
Sears’ sister company, Kmart, never cut back on layaway, Gibson said.
Even ahead of the Christmas season, he said, his store had a successful layaway program for back-to-school items.
“With the difficult economic climate – with families on a budget – we wanted to help our customers,” he said. “I’m surprised a lot of folks aren’t doing it.”
Gibson said layaway makes it easier for buyers to plan ahead for the next holiday or birthday.
Even if a purchaser locks in an item at a certain price, he said, Sears will honor a lower price if the item happens to go on sale.
Wal-Mart – the nation’s largest retailer – has gone in the opposite direction, eliminating its layaway in 2006.
“Currently, there are no plans to reintroduce the program,” spokeswoman Kelly Cheeseman said last week from company headquarters in Bentonville, Ark.
She said layaway costs money, a cost that was spread to product prices in general.
“The best way for us to keep prices as low as we can go is to work with suppliers,” Cheeseman said.
Boscov’s Bausher also sees layaway as a valuable resource not only for consumers of all economic strata but also for secretive parents at Christmastime.
“Based on the fact they don’t want to take it (the gift) home and have their loved ones find it stashed away somewhere,” he said.
Local News
Related Photos
-
Sears employee Johnny Potter hangs clothes that are on layaway at the store in The Galleria in Richland Township. Dave Lloyd
Discussion
Local stores bring back layaway
- Local News
-
-
Highlights of Gov. Corbett's Marcellus Shale spending plan
Read on to see a bulleted list of Gov. Tom Corbett’s $27.1 billion state spending plan for the year that starts July 1.
-
Pa. gas drilling fee bill debate ends without vote
Pennsylvania, the only major gas-producing state that does not tax the taking of natural gas from its soil, moved closer Tuesday to imposing a fee on the drilling in the vast Marcellus Shale reserves that have transformed the state in recent years.
-
Blogging with heart
I've got so much stuff for this Sunday's American Heart Month package, that some of the stories will spill over onto Monday. But I don't know what to leave out, or hold for the next week, so it looks like a double hit this week.
-
$27.1B budget proposed
Gov. Tom Corbett on Tuesday proposed a budget of $27.1 billion, with no tax increases, deep cuts to higher education assistance and a range of cost-cutting in services for the poor, elderly and disabled.
-
Universities face steep cuts
State universities still trying to recover from deep cuts last year would have their public funding slashed even further under a budget plan unveiled Tuesday, leading some institutions to warn of a choice between maintaining buildings and offering academic programs students need to graduate.
-
Plan hurts middle class, local Democrats contend
While members of his own party praised Gov. Tom Corbett’s fiscal restraint, some local Democratic lawmakers said the Republican’s proposed budget panders to corporate interests while inflicting pain on the middle class.
-
Detour hurting some Portage businesses
Craig Mazzarese’s business depends heavily on drive-by customers, but since last week fewer drive-bys have been stopping
-
Local airport funding intact
Airport leaders here are breathing sighs of relief after Congress approved funding to support local commercial air service through 2015.
-
With state revenue tight, Westmont seeks school budget input
The Westmont Hilltop school board on Tuesday night held a public forum at the middle school to explain why the district, already one of the most efficient in the state, must raise taxes each year.
-
In brief: Commissioners plan to meet at schools
Cambria County’s three new commissioners, carrying out plans to take meetings into communities, have scheduled five of their meetings this year in high school auditoriums throughout the county.
- More Local News Headlines
-
Former Komen Exec Defends Funding Cut
Skip the Coffee Cup and Inhale Your Caffeine Fix
Calif. Gay Marriage Ban Ruled Unconstitutional
Jury Selection for Ex-UVa Athlete Enters 2nd Day
Raw Video: Giants Celebrate Another Super Bowl
Cab Driver Helps Wis. Family Escape House Fire
Greek Leaders Seek Deal As Bankruptcy Looms
Bernanke: Recovery Depends on Consumer Spending
Staff Removed at LA School During Abuse Probe
Eastwood in Super Bowl Ad 'Compassionate'
Stranded Fishermen Rescued From Bay of Green Bay
Analyst: Outside Troops Won't Intervene in Syria
Police: Father Planned Deadly Fire for Some Time
US, UK Pressure on Syria; More Homs Violence
Raw Video: Mass Killer Wants Medal, Freedom
Court Strips Contador of Tour De France Title
Runaway Goat Leads Police on Wild Chase
And the Winner for Best Super Bowl Ad Is...
Romney Latest Poll to Join Let-me-explain Club
