Sears/Kmart Surpassing Wal-Mart on Holiday Layaway Plans

In recent days we could not help but notice how Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) made some significant reductions to its holiday layaway plans to make it more affordable and available.  We also said that if Wal-Mart was going to be buckling in this manner that other retailers would likely follow suit.  News is now out today from Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: SHLD) that it is jumping in on the layaway bandwagon.

The difference here is that its Kmart unit is just going to remove its layaway service fee for its online and in-store purchases starting September 7th and going through November 17th.

Kmart says that it is currently the only mass retailer to offer the program 365 days a year around the nation.  Another difference from the Wal-Mart layaway plan is that Kmart touts no minimum transaction amount.

Sears shares are up 0.7% at $57.76 while Wal-Mart shares are down by 1.5% at $73.68 so far today.

JON C. OGG