Today's Living at 5: Layaway Makes A Comeback

Analysts are predicting a dismal holiday season for retailers. But while the cash registers may not be ringing as much, the layaway desk is doing a brisk business.

That's right, that old retail mainstay, layaway is back.

Lisa Rohlic's husband lost his job last month. But she's found a new way to get what her family needs without using credit cards-layaway.

It allows us to buy the bigger ticket items and pay them off a little at a time in smaller amounts. Layaway is no longer pass?.

Shrinking credit and rising unemployment mean growing lines at the Kmart layaway counter.

The retailer now touts its layaway option, which it's had for decades. Layaway allows consumers to use an interest free payment plan before taking items home.

It first became popular during the great depression and was a mainstay through the 70s until the widespread use of credit cards in the 80s turned it into a relic of the past.

Retail consultant Burt Flinkinger says, "Now the depression lessons from the grandparents are coming back, only buy it if you have the cash and if you only have some of the cash put it on layaway."

And it's even taking off on the Web, eLayaway.com signed up a thousand new people today.

Michael Bilello with eLayaway says, "There's really nothing sexy about walking away from a layaway counter but doing it in the privacy of your home through elayaway certainly has caught on with a lot of consumers."

But how much will those lessons stick? Because despite rising demand for layaway at some retailers, others have no plans to offer it again, and leading some experts to say layaway won't fully be back in fashion again.

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