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It's adapting for the times. Now that terms for credit have been strengthened stores are using this as a means to market to the same customers that would finance their purchases with a sub-prime store card. It is similar to the old television infomercial which will tout a product in terms of so many easy payments of so many dollars. Lawaway is a payment plan and not credit but we are seeing a comeback the payment plan marketing scheme of monthly payments also. Consumers do not realize the premium they are paying when they finance purchases using the merchant's credit. I received a catalog in the mail from a company called Fingerhut which doesn't appear to sell an item for more than $100 within the catalog but instead of listing the price, it is listed as "as low as $2.99 a month" or "as low as "$9.99 a month" and that is for products that are rather cheap to begin with. It's only when you read the fine print and see the price you realize it is 100%, 200% or more than what you would pay at a discount retailer.