Tyler Perry Surprises Layaway Shoppers At Two Atlanta-Area Walmarts

Customers with layaway items at two Atlanta-area Walmarts got a great holiday gift from Tyler Perry.

The locally based entertainment mogul announced on Twitter Thursday that he had paid off all the items on layaway at the Walmarts in Douglasville and East Point.

Perry spent about $434,000 on the holiday surprise, but there is a catch: His gift is only for items put on layaway at those stores before 9:30 a.m. Dec. 6.

In addition, customers have to pay one cent to pick up their items.

Perry explained his generous gift in the Twitter video:

“I know it’s hard times, everyone’s struggling and I’m just really, really grateful to be able to be in a position to do this,” he said.

Perry also said in the video that he intended the layaway payments to be anonymous, adding, “You know nothing stays secret these days.”

A Walmart manager at the Douglasville location told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution the store usually has about 1,000 layaway accounts at this time of year.

The manager, who only gave her first name, Shameka, told the paper she’s never seen such a generous act while employed at Walmart.

“I was shocked,” she said. “It shows that we know there’s still good people in the world.”