Pocono News Section

A holiday shopping trend

A holiday shopping trend - Friday, November 7, 2008 at 3:42PM EST

Reported by: Laurie Monteforte
Friday, Nov 7, 2008 @ 03:42pm EST
EAST STROUDSBURG, MONROE COUNTY - This year there's a new Christmas trend, layaway shopping. That's where a store holds your items and you make small payments every week or so until your order is paid off. Then you can take it home.

Over the years stores have stopped the service because more people chose to buy now and pay later with credit cards. But the credit crunch has forced people to change their ways.

Linda Serfass loves to spoil her grandkids, especially at Christmas. Every year it gets a little tougher because the news toys are more expensive. She explained, "They're into electronic stuff, computer things. It was much easier to shop for them when they were littler."

But Linda isn't about to let high prices or a bad economy spoil the fun. She's using layaway at K-mart. "It's easier. You can pay over time and not have to fork that money out all at one time," she said.

K-mart store manager James Brelsford said about twice as many people as usual are using layaway this year. He added, "You don't have to pay an interest fee, we hold the merchandise for 60 days, it's only a small nominal fee to hold it."

People layaway everything from bedding and purses to fun stuff like actions toys that make you feel like a kid again. Feeling like a kid and making the little ones happy is a big reason people are unwilling to sacrifice Christmas no matter how bad things get.

"It's a big deal to them. It's very important to have Christmas," said Michelle Smith of Stroudsburg. She put more than $100 worth of holiday goodies aside for her kids. She said layaway is a great way for her to make sure she doesn't blow her Christmas budget. "This year I want to make sure that I don't have to stress over bills, money, gas, fuel, the whole bit," she explained.

Layaway - a way to spoil the kids without spoiling your budget.

Another benefit of K-mart layaway is that if an item goes on sale within seven days of the time you set it aside you can get the sale price.