What is Layaway? 

There have been a couple of topics posted about layaway -
http://www.buxr.com/topic/10-s.....yaway_5553 and
http://www.buxr.com/topic/b-wa.....ain-b_5475

as well as a Buxr blog post - http://www.buxr.com/blog/2011/.....t-for-you/ -
that includes complete details and a list of the stores that offer layaway.

Hope those help to explain it.

In a nutshell it is an alternative to a credit card. The difference is that your credit is the goods you get, and your creditor is the store selling them. The fees can be significant and you are almost always better off using a credit card, if you can. The blog post HouTex mentioned above has a wealth of info with a comparison of offers from a few popular stores.

Thanks.