Walmart Layaways Paid Off by Secret Santa

The nationwide trend of anonymous paying off of strangers' layaway accounts has come to Avon.

was the location of this big gesture of goodwill.

Local store managers told the Chronicle-Telegram that a man had paid more than $8,000 towards people's layaway bills this past weekend. Walmart spokeswoman Kayla Whaling said Monday that the company could not confirm that figure, nor how many people were helped.

Whaling referred to the donor as a female, saying that she had done this at other Walmarts.

"She's very generous," Whaling said.

No one from the store was available for comment.

Paying off layaways has become the feel-good story of the holidays. It started getting noticed last week at Kmarts around the country, and has since spread to other stores with layaway plans. Walmart brought back layaways for the holidays for the first time since 2005, just for toys and electronics.

Whaling said that Walmarts all over the country have had this happen, including stores in Washington, New York, North Carolina, Texas, Missouri and Oregon.