Sears plans to re-introduce layaway plans Sunday, with the service available for most merchandise this Christmas season. A story is posted at USA Today, and here is the press release at Sears corporate web site.

A snippet from the announcement:

“Our customers are talking and Sears is listening! Not only did we hear feedback from our customers, but we saw the very positive response to our sister retailer’s — Kmart — layaway program,” said Don Hamblen, Sears’ chief marketing officer. “In this difficult economic climate, extending the layaway program at Sears is an easy decision and one that we hope will provide additional value to our customers.”

The participating stores are “full line and Sears Hardware Stores,” which, I assume includes the Sears at Frenchtown Square mall.

If you are not familiar with layaway, be aware that there are payment schedules for such programs and often, as in this case, layaway fees. But layaway can work out very well for families on tight budgets – shop during a sale, get the sale price, make payments during the next few weeks, pick up the order and there you go!