GRAND TRAVERSE -- Customers shopping through layaway at the popular department store could receive extra help from individuals that Kmart has named "Layaway Angels."
They are individuals that go into the store and ask to pay off someone's layaway balance during the holiday season. Sometime's it's for family members or friends. Other times it's for complete strangers.
Some of the angels request to be identified, while many wish to remain anonymous.
"I get goose bumps. It makes me cry," smiled Acme Kmart associate, Andrea Sansonetti. "And to see that generosity and that spirit this time of year, when there's so much else going on in the world. And you know it's a spark of goodness that comes out. And just to be apart of that small portion makes me feel good too."
The program unofficially started a few years ago. Kmart representatives tell 7 & 4 that they gave the program and it's members the name in 2011.
There's no advertising for the program. It's what Kmart calls, "organic." It's something that is done through the goodness of customers hearts without the extra reminders.
Since Black Friday of 2012, Kmart has recorded about 27 thousand dollars worth of angel donations nationwide.
Acme Kmart received roughly 11 angels this holiday season. Traverse City Kmart reports that they have had nearly 50.
