Gift Cards

[mrpaseo]

I found a list of stores that someone put together that are having issues in this economy. I do not know how accurate this list is but figured it was good information (An eye opener). The point is, if you are going to give a gift card I would reccomend one of the Visa/Master card gift cards that are good anywhere. Also, if you receive a gift card, you might want to do some quick research to see how long they will still be in business.

One more point before I cut and paste, if a store is closing in your area you can still use gift cards on line and have the items mailed to you.

GIFT CARDS: Under the current economic situation there are numerous retail outlets cutting back operations and/or closing stores in the upcoming months. Veterans might want to take this into consideration if they plan to purchase Gift Cards as presents for the holiday season. Also, don't forget that those lifetime warranty replacements are only as good as the lifetime of the company that provides them, NOT your lifetime. There is no law preventing them from doing this. On the contrary, it is referred to as Bankruptcy
Planning. A partial list of announcements so far follows:

• Ann Taylor: A company spokeswoman said Ann Taylor will be closing 117 stores nationwide The company hasn't revealed which stores will be shuttered but will let the stores that will close this fiscal year know over the next month.
• Bombay: CLOSED
• Cache: Women's retailer Cache announced that it is closing 20 to 23 stores this year.
• Circuit City: Has filed chapter 11 bankruptcy re-organization.
• CompUSA: CLOSED. They have clarified in their details on store closings that any extended warranties purchased for products through CompUSA will be honored by third-party provider, Assuring Solutions. Gift cards, rain checks, and rebates purchased prior to 12 DEC can be redeemed at any time during the final sale. For those who have a gadget currently in for service with CompUSA, the repair will be completed and the gadget will be returned to owners.
• DHL: Don't plan on sending those gifts via DHL. The German owned company, is pulling out of the US market in NOV 08 laying off 14,900 of its 18,000 U.S. employees.
• Dillard's: Dillard's Inc. said it will continue to focus on closing underperforming stores, reducing expenses and improving its merchandise in 2008. At the company's annual shareholder meeting, CEO William Dillard II said the company will close another six underperforming stores this year.
• Disney Store: The Walt Disney Company announced it acquired about 220 Disney Stores from subsidiaries of The Children's Place Retail Stores. The exact number of stores acquired will depend on negotiations with landlords. Those subsidiaries of The Children's Place filed for bankruptcy protection in late MAR. Walt Disney In the news release said it has also obtained the right to close about 98 Disney Stores in the U.S. The press release didn't list those stores.
• Eddie Bauer: Eddie Bauer has already Closed 27 shops in the first quarter and plans to close up to two more outlet stores by the end of the year.
• Ethan Allen Interiors: J.C. Penney, Lowe's and Office Depot are scaling back Ethan Allen Interiors: The company announced plans to close 12 of 300+stores in an effort to cut costs.
• Foot Locker: To close 140 stores. In the company press release and during its conference call with analysts,, it did not specify where the future store closures (all planned in fiscal 2008) will be. The company could not be immediately reached for comment.
• Gap Inc.: Closing 85 stores. In addition to its namesake chain, Gap also owns Old Navy and Banana Republic .The company said the closures (all planned For fiscal 2008) will be weighted toward the Gap brand.
• Home Depot: Nearly 7+ months after its chief executive said there were no plans to cut the number of its core retail stores, The Home Depot Inc. announced 13 NOV that it is shuttering 15 of them amid a slumping U.S. economy and Housing market. The move will affect 1,300 employees. It is the first time the world's largest home improvement store chain has ever closed a flagship Store for performance reasons. Its shares rose almost 5%. The Atlanta-based company said the underperforming U.S. stores being closed represent less than 1% of its existing stores . They will be shuttered within the next two months.
• J. Jill: see Talbot’s
• KB Toys: Has posted a list of 356 stores that it is closing around the United States as part of its bankruptcy reorganization. To see the list of store closings, go to the KB Toys Information web site, and click on Press Information
• Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug, Catherine's: Spokeswoman Brooke Perry said the owner of retailers Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug, Catherine's Plus Sizes will close about 150 underperforming stores this year. The company hasn't provided a list of specific store closures and can't say when it will be offered.
• Levitz: The furniture retailer is going out of business. Levitz first announced it was going out of business and closing all 76 of Its stores in DEC 08. The retailer dates back to 1910 when Richard Levitz opened his first furniture store in Lebanon PA. In the 1960s, the warehouse/showroom concept brought Levitz to the forefront of the furniture industry. The local Levitz closures will follow the shutdown of Bombay.
• Linens & Things: Under liquidation and closing all stores by year end.
• Lowe’s: Will close some stores.
• Macy's: Will close 9 stores.
• Mervyn’s: Closing all stores
• Movie Gallery: Will close 160 stores as part of reorganization plan to exit bankruptcy. The video rental company plans to close 400 of 3,500 Movie Gallery and Hollywood Video stores in addition to the 520 locations the video rental chain closed last fall.
• Pacific Sun Wear: Will close its 154 Demo stores after a review of strategic alternatives for the urban-apparel brand. Seventy-four underperforming Demo stores closed last May.
• Piercing Pagoda: see Zale’s
• Sharper Image: The Company recently filed for bankruptcy protection and announced that 90 of its 184 stores are closing. The retailer will still operate 94 stores to pay off debts, but 90 of these stores have performed poorly and also may close.
• Sprint Nextel: New Sprint Nextel CEO Dan Hesse appears to have inherited a company bleeding subscribers by the thousands, and will now officially be dropping the ax on 4,000 employees and 125 retail locations. Amid the loss of 639,000 postpaid customers in the fourth quarter, Sprint will be cutting a total of 6.7%of its work force (following the 5,000 layoffs last year) and 8% of company-owned brick-and-mortar stores, while remaining mute on other rumors that it will consolidate its headquarters in Kansas . Sprint Nextel shares are down $2.89, or nearly 25%, at the time of this writing.
• Talbot's: About a month ago, Talbot's announced that it will be shuttering all 78 of its kids and men's stores. Now the company says it will close Another 22 underperforming stores. The 22 stores will be a mix of Talbot's women's and J. Jill another chain it owns. The closures will occur this fiscal year, according to a company press release.
• Whitehall: Closing all stores
• Wickes: Wickes Furniture is going out of business and closing all of its stores. Wickes, a 37-year-old retailer that targets middle-income customers, filed for bankruptcy protection last month.
• Wilson's the Leather Experts: Closing 158 stores
• Zale’s: The owner of Zale’s and Piercing Pagoda previously said it plans to close 82 stores by 31 JUL 09. Now, it announced that it is closing another 23 underperforming stores. The company said it's not providing a list of specific store closures. Of the 105 locations planned for closure, 50 are kiosks and 55 are stores.
[Source: Veteran Council Florida Michael T. Isam article 18 Nov 08 ++]

[disneysteve]

This list is BOGUS. It has been on the news, on GMA, on Snopes.com, etc. Just ignore it. And DON'T forward it to your friends and family.

Some of the info is true. Some is not.

I agree that if you get a gift card, use it quick because one never knows what might happen. Best option is to avoid gift cards for specific stores and instead do Visa gift cards or mall gift cards that are good at multiple stores (or cash which is good everywhere).

[webcontacts00]

Visa and Master Card gift card charges some high fee though.

[disneysteve]

Visa and Master Card gift card charges some high fee though.

True. Personally, I don't like gift cards at all. I avoid giving them as much as possible. I'd rather give cash or a check if I want to give money.

[MoneyTrev]

True. Personally, I don't like gift cards at all. I avoid giving them as much as possible. I'd rather give cash or a check if I want to give money.

I agree as well. Why waste perfectly good money on credits that you can't cash out? At least keep it as money so you can spend it at another store if you find them cheaper.

[kork13]

True. Personally, I don't like gift cards at all. I avoid giving them as much as possible. I'd rather give cash or a check if I want to give money.

Agreed... I hate gift cards, because I never know how to get full use out of them. You always end up with little amounts on them like $11.24 or $3.67. Most places I've tried using gift cards at refuse to split a purchase between multiple cards, which is what you have to do if you're going to use the last little bit on gift cards.

These frustrations are why I have over $180 of gift cards waiting to be used... but wait, upon checking, I just realized that $100 of it just expired at the end of November. ...jolly me... ::moment of frustrated anger::

My father claims no propensity for Christmas shopping, so for as long as I remember, he's given my siblings and I some cash to use as we see fit... always greatly appreciated, and makes it easy on everyone. In similar fashion, I refuse to give gift cards. If I want to give you something but have no idea what, you're getting cash/check.

I realize that people giving gift cards are well-intentioned, but really, I'd just prefer to get cash/check if you want to help me buy something.... it's less of a hassle, and cash won't expire on you. (stupid expiration dates....curse them all....)

[scfr]

In defense of gift cards (sometimes): One of my husband's suppliers used to send us fancy gourmet food gift baskets for the holidays. You know the kind ... it looks really big and impressive, where there is a lot of fancy packaging and filler, and when you finally get it all opened there is something like 3 crackers and 2 cookies and 1 chocolate-covered almond? And then there is the basket or tin left over that is probably going to end up in a garage sale or going to Goodwill, not to mention all the packaging going to a landfill?

Well, this year that supplier instead sent out grocery store gift cards! Yipee! Can you imagine a more wonderful, thoughtful, practical gift? Who couldn't use a grocery store gift card, especially in these times when we are all trying to stretch our grocery dollars? And it's the type of card that can be used up immediately, so no need to worry about fees or expiration dates. And if you go over the amount by $1.63, who cares? It's groceries! So, at least in this particular case, I will say HOORAY for the gift card!

[disneysteve]

scfr, I agree. I'd rather get a gift card than a useless gift.

Keep in mind that gift cards sell very well on ebay, usually for just slightly under face value. I've sold a number of them when we got gift cards we didn't want (yes, gift cards can be useless gifts too if they are for places that you don't shop or eat). I had a $100 Ruths Chris card that sold for over $99 and I've had a few others that sold for within a couple of dollars of face value. You can even sell cards with only partial balances remaining.

What annoys me is that they make you use up every penny on the card. Years ago, when gift certificates were paper, they'd usually give you cash when you were down to less than $5.00. It wasn't worth their time and expense to issue you a new certificate. Now, with magnetic strip cards, it doesn't cost them anything. I once ended up with something like 13 cents on a Staples card. Never did use it. Billions of dollars gets wasted that way.

[Ima saver]

I dislike gift cards too. I have a couple sitting here that I will never use, to stores I never go to. I do like the idea of grocery gift cards tho. Everyone can use those.