Police In Florida Visit Department Store To Pay Off Layaway Accounts That Were Due To Expire Before Christmas

Dec 16, 2019 by apost team

Almost 30 lucky layaway customers have gotten their layaway accounts all squared-up for Christmas this year. How? Why? It’s all thanks to a very unlikely source going beyond the call of duty.

Layaway was once a very popular option for consumers to ‘reserve’ items by paying for them in installments. With the boom of the credit card industry in the early 90s, layaway numbers declined. It became something that consumers without credit opted for mainly during the holidays. In 2011, however, layaway numbers made a resurgence as consumers struggled to afford necessities during the recession, reports The Oklahoman.

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Once again, even as the economy has improved, the holidays remain a time when layaway is utilized by consumers struggling to afford holiday gifts. The problem, as many economists point out, is that most consumers are not able to afford the upfront cost of gifts, and aren’t likely to be able to afford to pay them off within the three to four month holiday layaway season.

This was exactly the problem for the 26 unpaid layaway purchases at a Dade City, Florida Walmart. Totaling over $4,300 in combined costs, the 26 layaways were about to expire. This would mean that the consumers would lose the items and likely be out of the layaway expenses. They’d be in even worse financial shape to buy gifts than before.

Police Chief James Walters stepped in to save the day. According to the Miami Herald, he called each person from the service desk at Walmart to break the good news. At first, they were hesitant to believe what was happening, but, as the reality of the good deed set in, they were moved to tears. The department used a special fund to pay off the debt for the layaway customers.

It’s actually become a trend for the privileged and other entities looking for a way to add some holiday cheer to the public. AJC News states that last year, celebs like Tyler Perry, Kid Rock, and Gayle Benson made viral headlines as they paid off a combined 600k worth of layaways at their respective Atlanta, Nashville, and New Orleans Walmarts. A group called Pay Away the Layaway invites anonymous donors to become layaway angels.

What an amazing holiday story, right? What are your thoughts on layaway? Do you know of some more good holiday deeds? Tell us about them in the comments section, and don’t forget to pass this story along so that others can be inspired.