Nordstrom's decision to scale back its layaway service does not appear to be a move other department stores in the state are anxious to follow.
When thousands of Utah customers streamed into Nordstrom's summer sale recently, they were startled to learn that they could not put any of the sale items on layaway. Clerks were adamant. All sale items had to be bought that day.Many clerks went on to say that Nordstrom was going to eliminate its layaway service altogether and that other stores would be following suit. Weinstocks eliminated the service a few years ago.
But Nordstrom stopped short of completely eliminating its layaway policy. The new policy does not allow customers to put most sale items on layaway, but they can use the service for full-price and Anniversary Sale items - for awhile at least.
Layaway is popular in Utah. Several store officials interviewed by the Deseret News, including Nordstrom's regional manager, report that their Utah stores have much heavier layaway traffic than their stores in larger, more populous states.
Conservative about credit, Utahns often rely on layaway instead of credit cards to purchase items they can't immediately afford. They are heavily dependent on the service for Christmas and back-to-school shopping.
Perhaps that's why most stores plan to keep their layaway service here despite a marked national trend to eliminate layaways in favor of in-store credit cards.
Nordstrom's three Utah stores are the only stores in the chain that still have layaway, said Bob Middlemas, general manager of Nordstrom's Utah region.
"We found that layaway was used more heavily here than in other parts of our company," he said. Instead of eliminating the service, the Utah Nordstrom stores chose to scale it back.
"I can't go on record saying we'll continue it or discontinue it," Middlemas said.
While Nordstrom makes no promises about the future of its layaway service, other stores do.
Fred Meyers has no plan to ever eliminate its layaway service, said Cheryl Meyer, regional sales manager for the chain.
"It's too important to our customers." Fred Meyer is another chain that has noticed much heavier layaway traffic in Utah than in other states.
In the past, ZCMI, Weinstocks and Nordstrom have each been highly sensitive to what the other does. But ZCMI says it has no intention of following Weinstocks' and Nordstrom's lead in cutting back the layaway service.
"We've found that there is a customer out there that really appreciates the layaway program," said Bill Coles, executive assistant to the president. "As far as I know, we will continue to have it well into the future."
Layaway is an expensive service. Stores have to foot the bill for the considerable storage space it requires. They also take frequent losses on merchandise that has been put on layaway for several weeks and then returned to stock at the end of the season.
That was one of Nordstrom's biggest problems, Middlemas said. Winter items languished in layaway for several weeks, then were returned to the store floor just as new, spring items were arriving. Nordstrom was forced to mark the returned winter items down sharply to sell them quickly.
If Utah Nordstroms find that only 20 percent of their layaway items are being returned to stock, they may keep the service, he said. But, on the other hand, if 70 percent of the items are being returned, the service goes.