What's Up With Wal*Mart?

Well, I've never used lay-a-way, but I do know that the Kmart here discontinued it a while back. People were pretty upset, but I know that it was actually a smart business move - and helped keep the prices down. People would go in put something on lay-a-way, then come back right before Christmas and get their money back and cancel the sale. Now the store has had to take it off the shelf for lay-a-way when it could have been sold. Plus, they've had to pay someone to look over the lay-a-way stuff. It just wasn't cost-effective and in the end just drove up prices to cover the additional cost. Now, I do think it's bad for the people that needed it to help them budget things out. It was a great way for people to buy the things that were a bit more expensive.

Oh yes we found this out last year NO LAYAWAy very upseting for alot of people depended on that to get the things they want for christmas but now we cant . even thru the year we did layawaay for big things we wanted and now we cant like a digital camera we want . YEs I think they should bring lay away back. also was wondering if Kmart did the same thing we haent checked that out yet.

Oh wow, that is news to me! I haven't used layaway though since the girls were younger. I will have to poke my nose in at the layaway desk and see if our store has done away with it also. I guess they feel like they are making enough money without the hassle of layaway? What happened to serving the customer?

I was surprised when Walmart got rid of layaway last year. The more that I thought about it though, the more it made sense. Walmart is in fact a business, why would they keep something around that is not cost effective? Many people didn't even realize that the layaway was gone. Why? Because they never used it. Layaway became a storage area for items that people would place in there, cancel and get their money back. By the time the products get put back on the shelves, prices had gone down on the item and the store can no longer get the full asking price. Though some shoppers used layaway, and used it how it was intended..most didn't.

They did this last year in nc like a week before christmas. i guess due to people putting things on there and never fully paying for them when it could have been on the shelves and paid for... it really sucks though for us who put our stuff onlayaway and do pay fully for it.. i think that kmart still has layaway though:)

That happened here in Tennessee too. I think I have a half-way decent reason for it as well. We all know that they have those Wal-Mart cards (not the gift cards), well they charge interest on those cards of course. Well if they offer an interest free lay-away program that takes away from potential profits. Sure its a blow to the few of us that dont have credit, but it makes the rich richer.

Why Walmart did away with Lay-a-way I am not sure on? But it is not just where you live. I live in Florida and the walmarts here don't have lay-a-way anymore either. I don't see how they could do away with it. Like you said, so many people who live pay day to pay day depended on it to be able to get thier kids presents for Christmas. I don't think it was a smart thing for Walmart to do and I hope they realize thier mistake and bring lay-a-way back.

I was very surprise when they did this last year and they did it right before Christmas shopping kicked off into high gear. I don't understand why they did it but I think it is messed up that they did. Maybe it was causing more problems then what it was worth. Can you imagine the stock count problems they would have because I know not everyone goes and picks up their layway. Then they are not getting paid extra for offering this service either.

I agree this sucks. We used to always do our Christmas shopping at Wal-mart. This year we went to K-mart. The prices were a little higher,but they still offer lay-away. I hope this year wal-marts sales are way down for the season and they realize what a big mistake they made by stopping the lay-away. It is the only way we can afford to shop for everyone.

They stoped layaway last year after the holidays, mainly because people were not using it. I know I've never used it and didn't even know they had it till they posted signs saying they were going to discontinue it. Walmart is one of the few stores that I don't think needs a layaway department. Most of the stuff there is already at discounted prices. I guess its just me cause I've never been one to really use the lay away option at any store. I figured if I didn't have the money for it then I'd just get it when I did.

It's national. They did away with it last holiday season and it's nationwide. As far as I know of, the only one of those "discount chains" that still does layaway is Kmart. So fi you want to do layaway and have a Kmart nearby, see if they have the items you wanted to get your son and you can put it on layaway there.

Just goes to show who Sam Waltons family is all about. Destroyer of small town buisness. It costs them more a year in political donations then it did with the lay away. I refuse to shop there. I bought one of their visa prepaid cards Then realized Visa charges 5 bucks a month on the card. Walmart sells them for 10. WOW!!

I think that Walmart should bring lay a way back because a lot of people rely on it, especially during holidays. Our Walmart also stopped doing lay a ways before Christmas last year and it was a complete blow. It's so hard to buy bigger gifts now because we can't pay in payments.

It is nationwide. They stopped it about a year ago. There are not hardly any places that do layway these days.

Meme, thanks for your discussion. No WalMart and Kmart have stopped their lay-a-way program. I believe their reasoning is because it was too much hassle for them and most people have credit cards, so they think that people can use credit cards to pay for it now and pay on it later. However it is a bad idea because some people don't have credit cards and they would rather use lay-a-way, but it looks like these stores aren't going to have it return any time soon. Therefore I would suggest to apply for a credit card to buy these gifts. Pablo

They did it in my area last year right before Christmas and people were really up in arms about it but, of course, it did no good! What the working class people means nothing to big corporations, does it? Their reasoning was that it cost to much and took up too much space to store all the layaway merchandise. Here, they used to have big tractor trailers in the back of the store and some people complained about them - I have no idea why! My daughter had always used their layaway for her Christmas shopping so it really sucked not to have it. The sad thing is they must realize there are people who don't have credit cards - or don't wish to go into debt - and this is their best way to get what they want for their kids. Without layaway, if you don't have all the cash up front or a credit card you're out of luck when it comes to getting the best merchandise. One more example of the working class being left out in the cold. Face it folks, we don't mean a hill of beans to "big business"! Annie

I taught my kids to save money at home when they wanted to purchase something that was expensive. They were only kids at the time but they soon caught on to the idea of saving for a rainy day. I can't understand Grown Responsible People handing over their hard earned cash to a Store to save for them! What could be so difficult about putting some money aside week by week to make an important purchase?I think Walmart was showing remarkable intelligence when they abandoned this Childish Scheme!

Hardly any stores offer layaway. Know why? Because every store has their own credit card and they want consumers to go into DEBT! You cant go into a store now without someone pushing a credit card application under your nose. As if my cash isnt good enough for them!!! Just buy their goods and they dont care how you pay for it; thats now the banks problem. Take a look outside. There is atleast 4 banks in one shopping center, sometimes right next door to each other. Our country runs on debt and walmart is just joining for their piece of the pie. I hate that walmart got rid of layaway.

Yes it is not only your walmart all walmarts all over have quit doing the lay away. I think they should bring it back it was so convenient to have.

I work there, so I understand why they did away with it. Every christmas people would come in and buy, buy, buy, and put it on layaway. We would have rented trucks parked out back of the building full of lay-a-way items, some stores 20 of them. Then people would go off buying other places doing the same. By the time Christmas would roll around, they would have spent more than they had, so lay-a-way would get cancled and the product that no longer was on the shelf would be sitting out back in half of the trucks with no place to go. The people that used lay-a-way in a responsable manner gets hurt.