'Layaway Angels' Come to Ellisville Kmart

'Layaway angels' have come to Ellisville.

Anonymous good-deed-doers have paid off almost $8,000 of holiday presents on layaway so far this December at the . Layaway is like other installment payment plans, but the item has to stay in the store until the last payment is made.

"They've done everything from break down and cry, to just say, 'thank you,'" store manager Fred Camp said.

He said it's happened in previous Decembers, but not as much as this year. When it hit the news in other parts of the country, that's when it started happening here.

"It's not a very difficult thing to do," Camp said. The 'angels' just walk up to the layaway desk and and ask to pay for someone's presents. Once, it happened right in the line.

"They've made some families very happy," Camp said.

He said six to seven people have paid off the debts in the Ellisville store in amounts from $100 to $3,000.

Layaway debts have recently been paid off in , , , Massachusetts, , , and other parts of the country too.

Walmart brought back layaway this year, but a call to the Manchester store confirmed that no anonymous payments have been made there.