BLOOMINGTON - Go ahead and pick out all of your Christmas gifts now. Pay for them bit by bit, and you'll have packages to wrap before Dec. 25 - without the spending hangover in January.

In today's tough economy, once-dormant layaway programs are getting new national attention. Retailers including Kmart and Sears are promoting programs this year, and at least one local business has offered it for more than three decades.

In Central Illinois, the local response has varied from slight to booming. The response at Bloomington's Kmart has been outstanding, said store coach Ron Barnett. Kmart never discontinued layaway, but it's focused holiday advertising on the program. As a result, layaway business has almost doubled in Bloomington, Barnett said. To meet the demand, Kmart has increased staff in the layaway department and added an extra register, he said.

"We see new faces in here all the time using our layaway," Barnett said. "It's a win-win for us and the customer, too."

Layaway gives consumers another shopping option that allows them to make payments on gifts like toys and electronics that they were able to select and store away before the selection is picked over, Barnett said. That convenience is especially helpful in today's economy, Barnett said.

Kmart also benefits from layaway, especially since most customers buy other items when they pay their biweekly payments, Barnett said.

Generally speaking, layaway has more advantages than disadvantages, said Gary Hunter, associate professor of marketing at Illinois State University in Normal.

For the most part, layaway means more sales, but retailers also take the risk that customers may change their minds, Hunter said. If the item was the only one in stock, the store also could have missed out on a sale to another cash-paying visitor, he said.

Customers, meanwhile, often have to pay a layaway fee, Hunter said.

The fee at Kmart, for example, is $5 for a customer's entire layaway purchases, Barnett said.

Shoppers are better off using layaway than paying with a credit card and letting a balance sit and gain interest, though, Hunter said.

"Layaway is a good alternative to a credit card," Hunter said. "The downside for the customer is they don't get to pay for it and take it home right away."

But since Sears brought back layaway in departments like clothing and tools, Bloomington's Eastland Mall location hasn't seen a lot of demand, said store manager Gary Stewart. The people who take advantage of the program mainly put children's clothing and home fashion items on hold, he said.

Meanwhile, one locally owned business, Wild Country in uptown Normal, also hasn't noticed an increase for layaway, a service it has offered since opening more than 30 years ago, said owner Dick Smith.

The sports and outdoor store tailors the details of its free layaway program to individual customers, with most paying a 25 percent down payment and monthly payments for three months, Smith said. Layaway is a small part of the company's business, but it's a convenience some customers want, he said.

"It makes a sale," Smith said. "It helps the people get the product they're looking for."