Grand Rapids, Michigan, Nov. 22, 1949.
(Robinson Studio archive, Grand Rapids Library.)
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Looking at this picture and the Lay-a-way for Christmas sign reminds me of how important a Lay-a-way program was to both the consumer and the retailer.
During the late 1950's and into the 1960's people did not have or use credit cards like is common today with electronic funds transfer. Consumers would come into our families Hobby, Toy, and Bicycle Shop and begin laying away Christmas presents starting in August. Each payday they would stop at the 1st National Bank next to our store, cash their paychecks and stop by our store to make a cash payment on their lay-a-way account. Today, purchases are made on the spur of the moment decisions, but in the early years the purchases were carefully considered, the purchase made, and time was taken to pay it off. Since we were a neighborhood store, the local kids were always snooping around the store looking for anything with their name on it, so we had to be stealth in answering their questions.
Our store was located in a strip shopping center that backed up to a housing tract. Beginning in August, we would rent a vacant three-bedroom house behind our store and over the next few months, we would completely fill the rental house with Lay-a-ways. Bicycles, toys, dolls, you name it, every room was full "of Stuff". The customers would come into make a payment and their account invoice would be earmarked Bathroom, Kitchen, Front Bedroom, etc. listing where their Lay-a-way was stored. It seems crazy to me thinking of the liability we incurred storing, and having our inventory capital tied up with marginal security. Today that house would be broken into and everything stolen, it was simply a different time.
The Lay-a-way program was of great financial importance to our Hobby/Toy/Bicycle business. Our dollar volume for the last three months of the year, equaled the dollar volume for the first nine months of the year. During the 1970's, consumer purchases on credit increased, and the days of Lay-A-Ways declined, and ended
Yesteryear memories,
John
