• New York Times, Wednesday, June 16, 2010 10:38 AM

In a throwback to programs offered by banks and credit unions in the 1950s and 1960s before credit cards allowed people to spend money they did not have, Stephanie Clifford reports, Toys "R" Us is setting up a "Christmas Savers Club" in which customers set aside money to spend on holiday gifts. Participants get a card to which they add funds through cash or credit card payments. Toys "R" Us pays 3% interest on the balance.

"They're trying to bring back the tried-and-true, pay for things before you buy them concept," says Ed Mierzwinski, consumer program director for the United States Public Interest Research Group. But Mierzwinski points out that consumers who put their money in a regular savings account could spend it anywhere once the gift-buying season rolls around. That, from a marketer's POV, is the point.

"Basically, what Toys "R" Us is trying to do is lock some of that spending up from their loyal shopper," says Sherif Mityas, a partner in the retail practice at A.T. Kearney.

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