Anonymous community member pays off dozens of lay-bys at Gold Coast toy store

An anonymous community member has helped spread Christmas cheer for dozens families on the Gold Coast and paid off all their lay-bys at a suburban toy store.

The person, who wished to remain anonymous, walked into Mr Toys Toyworld in Helensvale on Wednesday, telling staff he wanted to pay off all the lay-bys at the shop.

Store manager Ebony Hughes said the kind-hearted stranger paid off lay-bys for about 40 families that amounted to about $2000.

“It was quite overwhelming and many customers were in tears when they came in to collect their orders,” she said.

“We were able to call our customers, so most of them came in today to pick up their lay-bys and they were quite excited and overwhelmed.

“We had a couple that didn’t answer their phone, so they were pretty surprised when we contacted them today.

“We had a few families crying today, so they were very grateful.”

Ms Hughes said while she had heard about other stores having their lay-bys paid off at Christmas by a random stranger, this was the first time it had happened at the Helensvale store.

“We’re fairly small, so it normally happens to our biggest stores,” she said.