Layaway Angels Visit Devon Big K Kmart

Someone is going to get a nice surprise when they go to pay off their in the The bill's already been paid.  A woman who did not identify herself spread the cheer that's been getting national attention when she walked into the Kmart Friday afternoon and plunked down $200 to pay off a total stranger's layaway bill.

Assitant store manager Greg Alleyne tells Patch the woman asked to pay off a layaway account that included toys. "I think people associate kids with toys, and that may be why she asked for an account with toys," Alleyne said.

By Friday at 6 p.m., the lucky gift recipient had not come in and had no idea of the surprise that awaits. It's a gift that had Alleyne smiling just talking about it. "It's a movement this Christmas," he said talking about the reports of other layaway bills being paid off at other Kmart stores around the country. "It's good for the stores, and obviously it's great for the customers who get a little help."

The $200 layaway bill paid Friday may not be the last at the Devon store. Alleyne tells Patch a woman called the store Friday and said she wanted to pay off $1,500 worth of layaway bills. While there's no way to know if the caller will actually come in, Alleyne says "people in this area generally wouldn't make a call like that if they didn't mean it."

And as Christmas draws closer Alleyne expected this to be a busy weekend for shoppers to come in to pay off their layaways. "People have two, three, $400 worth of stuff back there."