BonnerSprings.com

The purse strings of the American public continue to tighten as the economic downturn continues.

But many national and local stores don’t want that fact to affect the way the population shops. To continue to get customers to maintain shopping patterns, many businesses are bringing back an almost forgotten program: layaway.

The practice of paying for an item bit by bit before taking it home has returned to many big companies, including Kmart, TJ Maxx and Marshalls. Closer to Bonner Springs, however, layaway programs never left, but many businesses have recently seen a pickup in its usage.

“With the way things are going with the economy, I think people would be more likely to purchase larger-ticket items that I have if I offer layaway,” said Mary Miller, owner of Provence on the Prairie, 141 N. Nettleton.

Joining Provence with their layaway programs are local shops such as Miller’s too…, 201 Oak St., and Magnum Opus, 135 N. Nettleton.

When Provence first opened in 2003, Miller said she had the layaway program but that no one ever asked to use it. With sales down in most retail shops, Miller said layaway was a service she was willing to offer her customers if it helped ease their burden. Also to help her customers, Miller said when buying merchandise, she’s been trying to stock more items in the $20-$30 range.

“To me, customer service is what makes the difference and makes us different from larger stores,” she said.

Jill Jenkins, owner of Magnum Opus, agreed that customer service is the main reason she’s always offered layaway.

“We simply do it as a service to our customers,” she said.

Carol Courtney, owner of Miller’s, too…, said her store has no formal policy regarding layaway. She’s had situations where a customer would like to purchase a large collection and has requested the items be held while payments are made. Courtney said she’s glad to work with people to help them as much as possible.

“If someone asks us to, we’ll do it,” she said of layaway. “It’s called small-town service. We’re just glad to work with people however we can.”

That “small-town service” hasn’t spread to all Bonner Springs business, however.

The Bonner Springs Wal-Mart, 12801 Kansas Ave., and the entire Wal-Mart corporation did away with their layaway program in 2006. Anna Taylor, a spokesperson for Wal-Mart, said she didn’t want to speculate on the future, but that currently, there are no plans in the works to bring the layaway plan back.

“Traditional layaway programs are expensive,” she said. “It was eliminated because we thought it was the best way to help us keep our prices low for customers.”

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