Shoppers walk towards the K-Mart in Chehalis in 2011.
The Chehalis Kmart is entertaining angels unaware this Christmas season, particularly in the store's layaway section.
Kmarts across the nation have reported several instances in the past week in which an anonymous person comes up and pays on someone else's layaway - and the gift has kept on giving, reaching the Twin Cities Saturday and ballooning this week.
According to Kmart manager Steve Winter, 19 layaway accounts have had people other than the person who opens the accounts pay on them since Saturday, when a Kmart assistant manager helped a customer who came in - or, at least they thought it was a customer until the person who wished to remain anonymous said they wanted to pay on someone else's layaway.
Winter says the person working the layaway desk was "a little surprised."
"We get people that either pay on their layaways or don't and the items get returned to the shelf," Winter said, "but we don't really have people pay on others' layaways, although our store policy allows for it."
The Chehalis Kmart layaway policy allows people to put a down payment on items bought, provided they pay every two weeks toward the total balance. Customers can sign up for a four-week, eight-week or 12-week layway plan, Winter said, and the layaway service has become popular with Christmas shoppers as the holiday fast approaches.
Once the items are paid for in full, customers can come pick them up. But if the account isn't paid off in time, the contract signed between the customer and store is void and the items go back on the shelf.
Winter didn't say exactly how much money in total has been paid, but on Monday the movement of "layaway angels" gained steam. After only four of the gestures of kindness happened over the weekend, store staff reported 15 more Monday, including one woman who paid on several layaways.
"It looks like the people that paid on the layaways are paying on ones that are close to be returning to stock or layaway accounts that mainly are for toys," Winter said.
One man Winter talked to who said he wanted to remain anonymous told him people were paying others' layaway accounts across the country and he wanted to do a simple gesture of kindness for the Christmas season.
"He didn't want anyone to know who he was, and he said he wasn't doing it for any reason in particular," Winter said. "I just thought it was so great."
It's common procedure for managerial staff to call people notifying them their layaway accounts are closed, but when they've made the phone calls to people who benefited from the generosity of strangers, excited doesn't even begin to describe the sound on the other end of the line.
"We've had people absolutely overjoyed because they know there are going to be presents under the tree for their families this year," Winter said. "I've only been the manager of the store here since May and I've never seen anything like this. It gives you something to feel good about during economic hard times."
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Christopher Brewer: (360) 807-8235
