Walmart Stores In Maine Saying Goodbye To Holiday Layaways

My assumption is that this will be happening all over the country and not just in Maine, but Walmart has decided to pull the plug on its layaway program. When I was a kid, layaways, for some families, were the cornerstone of Christmas. It always seemed like the perfect blend between credit, and good old putting off paying as long as possible.

My family always did ok at Christmas, but as soon as we were all old enough to know how much our parents helped out Santa, is when they started talking more openly about how it all got paid for. More and more these days, people would seem to prefer going into large piles of credit card debt, than deal with the responsibility of a layaway.

And that's the reason, according to WGME - TV13. Nobody is using the option as much anymore, so Walmart is just 86'ing the program altogether. Back in the day, folks would pick out their items, put a deposit down, and have it all paid off by Christmas, giving you time to budget for the holidays. But now, people just whip out the plastic.

There are still two options, however. Obviously, you could get yourself a Walmart credit card, or they also have their Affirm Program, which allows you to make purchases online, and pay for them in set installments of 3, 6, or 12 months. Not quite the same, as layaways required no credit check or anything.

Certainly, times are always changing. And who knows... years down the road, some company will probably bring back "that old retro idea of layaways". Businesses always love to bring back nostalgic things. Ha, I'm not sure layaways will fit that bill, but I also never thought I'd see Mom jeans and men's pastel shirts again in my lifetime either.

Some things change, and some things always come back like warts. We'll see where layaways sit in the future. Bur right now? Buh-bye!