Talk about your unintended consequences.
Retail stores, which have been the occasional scene of adults slugging it out (literally) over a given year's hot toy, may find it more peaceful in the aisles this year as many of the items in greatest demand have sold out well before Black Friday comes around.
The Wall Street Journal reported last week that retailers offering earlier and less expensive layaway programs have seen a run on items that are expected to be hot sellers for the holidays. Consumers who may have been locked out in previous years as they waited to save enough money are putting what amounts to a reserve on them now, weeks before Halloween.
A number of retailers have dropped fees for layaway programs, making them more attractive than in the past. Others, such as H-E-B, are offering layaway for the first time.
Walmart, which dropped its layaway program in 2006 only to restart it again last year, saw nearly 145,000 layaway accounts opened the first day the program went live last month, according to the Journal piece. "Since then, we've seen continued interest in layaway, way above our expectations," a Walmart spokesperson told the paper.