In the United States, the holiday season will be kicking off with the so called “Black Friday†sales next week but with the seemingly nationwide movement toward getting out of debt and living as debt free as possible, both retailers and consumers are worried about how they will survive the usual holiday “buy-a-thonâ€. With high unemployment rates and tightened budgets, the National Retail Foundation is expecting that retail sales will be down just under $700.00 per person or 3.2 percent this year.
Some consumers have opted to scale back on gift giving and other holiday expenses this year and many are planning to avoid paying with credit cards and using cash, debit cards, or layaway plans to keep within their budgets.
Store layaway plans are nothing new. They became popular during the great depression of the 1930s and are now seeing a resurgence. While some retailers have always offered a layaway plan, others, concerned about the effects of an unstable economy and the general atmosphere of getting out of debt and increasing savings on their annual holiday profits, are adding a layaway plan this year.
Most retail stores charge a small fee and a percentage of the total purchase to hold the consumer’s selected items for a fixed period of time. During that time, the consumer must make regular payments toward the purchases.  The items can be picked up when they are paid in full.
Even though fees are charged, layaway makes sense for those hard hit by these tough economic times and battling to stay within a budget and not go further into credit card debt at this most expensive time of the year.
