Layaway

Layaway allows consumers to place merchandise on hold at stores. Small payments are required at regular intervals until the balance is paid. Usually, setting up a layaway plan is simple. It requires a small down payment and sometimes a small layaway fee. Layaway became popular in the 1920s and 1930s during the Great Depression. It made large purchases more affordable by breaking the cost down into smaller, more manageable payments. Layaway was very popular and available at most major retailers for many years. During the 1980s, the popularity of layaway began to diminish with the rise in credit card use. The benefits of layaway include affordable payments (spreads the total cost out over smaller payments), no interest (unlike credit cards), and no harm to credit ...