Christmas in August: Walmart’s layaway program is now open

Walmart is getting a head start on the holiday shopping season, launching its annual layaway program two weeks earlier than last year.

Retailers have been getting more and more aggressive in their attempt to snag holiday shoppers early, hoping they will spend more money at those stores.

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Walmart is opening up the 2015 holiday shopping season with a bang. In addition to launching its layaway program early, the retailer also announced its first-ever Toy Week — a ‘sneak peek at some of the top toys for the holidays as chosen by kids,’ giving shoppers the option of putting those toys on layaway. Plus, the retailer has a separate event around the release of the new ‘Star Wars’ movie.

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What Walmart is offering in this year’s layaway program

Shoppers at Walmart can put items on hold beginning Friday. Each item must cost $10 or more, down from last year’s minimum of $15. The total cost of items held must be at least $50 and customers only have to put down 10%. Shoppers will also have 90 days to pay for their gifts, more time than the 60 days they were given last year.

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Also part of this year’s program is an exclusive event around the highly-anticipated release of ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens.’ The store’s Force Friday event begins on September 4, when ‘more than 500 new Star Wars products will be available in stores and thousands more on Walmart.com.’ Get more details here.