Paying less than $30, Sharon Jessie purchased a shopping basket full of Christmas gifts for her six grandchildren Thursday evening.

She didn't leave the store with the items, however. Ms. Jessie put the $200 worth of toys on layaway, taking advantage of a payment option she hadn't used in years.

"I don't think I would have made it this year without layaway," she said at Kmart's Gordon Highway location. "It's hard right through here, so, for me, I can still pay my bills and get them something."

At nationally known stores such as Kmart and at e-commerce Web sites, shoppers are showing more interest in the payment option during the holiday season because money -- and credit -- is tight, said Kathy Grannis, spokeswoman for the National Retail Federation.

Fewer shoppers over the past several years used the consumer-friendly payment plan that dates back to the Great Depression, Ms. Grannis said. Many department stores had also stopped offering it, she added.

"Within the last 10 to 15 years, retailers leaned more toward shutting down the program completely, because shoppers were using their credit and debit cards more frequently," she said.

Mary Ann Brabham-Fail said she had not used layaway since Wal-Mart discontinued the option in 2006.

Now that she has been forced to stop working due to illness and lives off disability compensation and her husband's salary, the layaway payment option comes in handy, Mrs. Brabham-Fail said.

"We need more stores with this, because people really need it now," she said. "We're barely getting by."

Wal-Mart ended its layaway program when it became too costly to run, said Ashley Hardie, a Wal-Mart spokeswoman.

Other retailers that offer layaway include TJ Maxx, Marshalls and Burlington Coat Factory, according to store Web sites.

Kmart began an advertising campaign on its layaway program earlier this month to draw the attention of economically strapped customers, said Tom Aiello, a company spokesman.

He said the payment option is "taking off" at company stores across the country, but had no numbers to support its success since the advertising began, Mr. Aiello said.

Online layaway has seen a significant boost in customers this year, said Michael Bilello, spokesman for eLayaway.com, an e-commerce Web site that began in 2005. Customers, who register to purchase on the Web site, have grown from 10,000 in January to 50,000 in October.

"The consumer credit crunch has been driving a lot of what we've seen," Mr. Bilello said. "It's like our grandparents taught us, if you don't have the cash don't buy it. The worst thing you can do is max out your credit card."

eLayaway.com offers a layaway plan where customers can make payments for a minimum of two months for computers, clothing and other items.

Whether or not more retailers will offer layaway plans remains to be seen, Ms. Grannis said. But, she said, they could potentially give retailers the boost they need in a possibly dire holiday shopping season.

"Retailers have realized they have to do a lot more to get consumers in their stores," she said. "By promoting layaway, they may be inviting some new and old customers."