An Ode to Layaway

By Natalie P. McNeal

Many folks older than 25 spent their childhoods at the layaway counter, wayyyyyyyyy in the back of a store, watching Mama put away that fly winter coat, entry-level designer bag or warm boots until they were paid in full.

Now layaway is back! Over the past two decades, it had become little more than a joke to upwardly mobile types with wallets full of plastic. But in this economic downturn, racking up credit card debt is suddenly out. Big time. Take a look around at your favorite stores. For a small fee, you can now put an item on hold and pay for it over a set number of weeks. No credit check required. And if you lose your job in the new year—or tomorrow—there is no ugly balance to pay off.

Sears reinstated layaway this month after a 20-year hiatus. The retail giant is running television ads promoting the comeback, along with stores like Kmart. Everywhere you turn, stores for budget-conscious consumers, like T.J. Maxx and Burlington Coat Factory, are touting the return of the penny-pinching classic. For a millennial touch, there's even elayaway.com

To honor the resurgence of the practice that was created during the Great Depression, I decided to return to the South Florida branch of my childhood home: the Marshalls layaway counter. Yes, my mother had it BAD. Every Saturday, we did Marshalls and T.J. Maxx runs and found treasures to put on layaway. My mother always told the sales associate not to mail us a "layaway reminder note" because if it made it to the house, my dad would be flagged that we were out "damn shopping" again. Each month we would return to the counter to pick through the designer duds we had set aside, to decide which ones we really wanted and which ones we could live without.

An Ode to Layaway....