Article: ItAEs come to this Record number of shoppers are putting school supplies on layaway this year.(Business)

Byline: Anne DAEInnocenzio Associated Press

NEW YORK u To gauge consumersAE strain, look no further than the rows and rows of plastic bags awaiting layaway payments at Kmart. They are filled with back-to-school basics u not just T-shirts and jeans but notebooks, magic markers and pencils.

It is unheard of for layaway rooms to be so packed at back-to-school time and for the packages to include relatively cheap school supplies.

A record number of shoppers, shut off from credit and short on cash, are relying on KmartAEs layaway program to pay for all of their kidsAE school needs, said Tom Aiello, a spokesman for KmartAEs parent Sears Holdings ...

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