Let them eat cake on layaway

Oct. 2 2026

People in the richest country in the world are having to use buy-now, pay-later plans to eat.

As Fortune reported this month, “30% of Americans are taking out BNPL loans to pay for groceries.” Wegmans doesn’t have such a plan, nor does it accept BNPL payments.

Yet nationwide, their usage is soaring. According to the Federal Reserve’s 2026 Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households report, one in five people who used BNPL during the prior year used it for groceries or food delivery. Before you write this off to people ordering pizza for the big game, 45% of those using BNPL said it was the only way they could afford the purchase.

Many used apps such as Zip and Klarna – companies that provide short-term loans, to be repaid in installments. Klarna is a public company, based in England, charging interest rates as high as 35.99%. A major investor is Sequoia Capital, an American venture capital firm. (Sequoia, btw, is a big investor in AI.)

Wegmans does not have a layaway plan, nor does it accept BNPL payments.

At the same time, the Trump administration has slashed food aid. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” cut federal SNAP spending by roughly $187 billion over 2025–34.

Bottom line: an ever-expanding market for companies owned by wealthy investors.

I can’t think of a better illustration of the shift of wealth from the poor and middle class to the already rich.