Conservative commentator Glenn Beck, who founded Irving-based TheBlaze, paid off all the layaway accounts at a North Richland Hills Walmart on Saturday, two days before the final payments were due.
Beck and his wife broadcast live from the store Saturday evening. They said they stopped at the Walmart on their way to a Christmas party, but ended up staying for several hours as employees helped Beck pay off each account, one-by-one.
A Walmart spokeswoman said Beck paid about $27,000 in total at the location on North Tarrant Parkway in North Richland Hills. Beck said on his radio program Monday that the individual accounts had balances that ranged from $24 to $500.
The host said he and his family had been inspired by Tyler Perry, who recently paid off all the layaway items at two Atlanta Walmart stores, which totaled more than $400,000.
The Beck family took turns live-streaming the Walmart trip on Beck’s Facebook page. In one video, as they were nearing the end of a two-hour stretch of paying off accounts one at a time, a Walmart employee had a customer overwhelmed with emotion on speakerphone.
“I’m serious, somebody paid it,” the employee told the crying customer.
Beck said he and his family were at the store earlier in the day, shopping for a women’s shelter their church helps. He said he asked his family if they’d be happy to forgo big Christmas gifts in lieu of the layaway project, and they all said yes.
“The reason why I liked this was because it was something that people were working toward,” he said on his program. “They weren’t asking for a handout.”
Beck challenged others, including conservative media personalities Ben Shapiro and Megyn Kelly, to do the same. He said he wanted it to become a tradition for his family.
“As long as the Lord gives me strength and the ability to do that, I want to do that every year,” he said.
Monday is the final day for Walmart customers with items on layaway to pay off and pick up their items.
