It used to be that when I heard the words "Kmart" and "bluelight special," I would always think of the last scene in the movie Troop Beverly Hills where Velda, the villainous Wilderness Girl troop leader who tried to sabotage Shelley Long's troop in the Wilderness Jamboree, is working at K-mart. Velda picks up the speaker phone and announces to the stores' customers, "Attention K-mart shoppers. Bluelight special. Aisle 13. Cookies." Every time that I would go into a K-mart after seeing that scene, I would want to visit Aisle 13 and see if it indeed had cookies on sale. I blame my sister for the association. I swear she used to make my mom rent that movie every week when we were kids. Even now I still have the theme song in my head. "We're the girls from Beverly Hills. Shopping is our greatest skill."Now, however, when I hear "Kmart" and "bluelight special," I think, "Ooh, layaway." Just in time for the holidays, Kmart has brought back Kmart Layaway, something that I'm truly excited about. The first time that I saw the Kmart commercial advertising the return of layaway, I called my mom and said, "You can put Chandler's Wii on layaway now." She, of course, reminded me that my hometown has not had a Kmart in a couple of decades. I then reminded her that Tallahassee, which is just a short drive away, does. She would do better to drive to the Tallahassee Kmart and put the gaming system on layaway than to wait until her boss passes out the Christmas bonuses this year. Last year, he waited until December 23 to hand out the bonuses. I'm pretty sure that there weren't any gaming systems--Wii, Xbox Live, Playstation 3, or otherwise--left in the state of Georgia on the day before Christmas Eve, except for maybe a couple that you buy out of some guy's trunk in a dark alley.
I'm also excited by Kmart's new mascot, Mr. Bluelight. Not only is the character adorable and a great tie-in to the store's bluelight specials, it also makes a lot of sense symbol-wise. We've all seen those cartoons where a light bulb flashes above a character's head when he is suddenly struck by a great idea or thought. Well, in this case, it's not a character but a store that was struck by a great thought--bringing back layaway. The U.S. is in a recession at the moment. People are losing their jobs right and left. Foreclosures are on the rise. Credit is hard to obtain. Money is tight all around. Those things can make for a bleak, holiday season for stores and consumers alike. People probably aren't going to buy as much as they normally do this Christmas, not because they don't want to but simply because they can't afford to, especially if they have to pay for everything at once.
Kmart, unlike many of its competitors, has realized that times are tough and that its customers may need a little more time to pay for their holiday gifts. Thus, it is giving its customers that time, up to eight weeks if need be. With a few exceptions, you can put almost any Kmart product on layaway: Martha Stewart bedding; Black Hills Gold jewelry; Heritage brand cribs; clothes from Kathy Ireland, Jaclyn Smith, and Joe Boxer; toys; and even Spongebob aquariums. However, there are some things that you can't put on layaway, things like groceries, beer, cigarettes, hazardous products, prescription drugs, and live plants. Common sense tells you why; the food would spoil, the plants would die, and the hazardous items could explode or leak.
What do you need to do to use Kmart layaway? Simply take the items that you have selected to the layaway desk. Kmart will require you to pay either a 10 percent down payment or the $5 service fee and $10 cancellation fee upfront, whichever amount is greater. You will then be required to make payments every two weeks that are 25 percent of the balance due and pay off the total amount at the end of eight weeks. As long as you make the payments on time, Kmart will hold the items for you. However, should you miss a payment, the item will be placed back in the store seven days after the missed due date.
To find a Kmart store near you with layaway, just go to Kmart.com, click on the layaway link, and enter your zip code in the search box. Your savings and layaway are then just a short drive away. Meanwhile, I'm thinking of making up some T-shirts or bumper stickers that say "I Heart Mr. Bluelight." He may very well be my favorite holiday character this season.
