Walmart launched its Christmas layaway promotion on August 28, two weeks earlier than its previous record, and a full 119 days before the holiday.  The reason, ostensibly, was to have the program in place for Star Wars Force Friday (see “Major Retailers Prepare for ‘Star Wars’ Force Friday”).  Walmart also cut the minimum price of products for which the program could be used from $15 to $10 with a minimum $50 basket, and lengthened the period of time to pay.

Walmart kicked off its promotions with its first ever Toy Week (including Force Friday), which also included the release of a list of kids choices for the top toys of the season.

“Outside of the holiday season, we could be looking at the biggest week of 2015 for toys and we’re giving customers every reason to choose Walmart,” said Anne Marie Kehoe, vice president of toys at Walmart.

Some see the record early start to the holiday season as a sign of weakness, as Walmart attempts to fight back against Amazon and other retailers despite underlying weakness in its stores.  “It reeks of a company in distress and knows it,” The Motley Fool said.  “It is throwing all the deck chairs overboard in an attempt to remain afloat.”