Be careful where you buy gifts card this season

[Illinoismom]

BE CAREFUL When BUYING GIFT CARDS this holiday.

It would be better to give cash or a present. Here's why. Stores across America are being scheduled to close after the Christmas season due to economic difficulties and bankruptcy. If the store closes, the gift cards would be no good. Here are some of the announced closings. Of course these companies would love you to give them money for a gift card that would be no good later on. Perhaps some home made jam or a $5 bill would be safer, since once a store declares bankruptcy they don't have to honor their gift cards. Better yet, give the gift of food storage.

STORE CLOSINGS AND LAYOFFS: By the end of Dec. 2008 as announced

Circuit City Filed Bankruptcy, they promised to keep all stores open for the holiday season, but afterwards, they plan on closing 155 stores nationwide.

 

Ann Taylor closing 117 stores nationwide.

A company spokeswoman said the company hasn't revealed which stores will be

shuttered. It will let the stores that will close this fiscal year know

over the next month

 

Eddie Bauer to close more stores.

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.

 

Cache closing stores.

Women's retailer Cache announced that it is closing 20 to 23 stores this

year.

 

Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug, and Catherines closing 150 stores nationwide.

The owner of retailers Lane Bryant , Fashion Bug, Catherines 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 offer

that info, spokeswoman Brooke Perry said today.

 

Talbots, J. Jill closing stores.

About a month ago, Talbots announced that it will be shuttering all 78 of

its kids and men 's stores. Now t he company says it will close another 22

underperforming stores. The 22 stores will be a mix of Talbots women's and

J Jill, another chain it owns. The closures will occur this fiscal year,

according to a company press release.

 

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.

 

Foot Locker to close 140 stores

In the company press release and during its conference call with analysts

today, 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

 

Wickes is going out of business

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.

 

Goodbye Levitz / BOMBAY - closed already The furniture ret ailer, which is

going out of business. Levitz first announced it was going out of business

and closi! ng all 76 of its stores in December. 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 .

 

Zales, Piercing Pagoda closing stores

The owner of Zales and Piercing Pagoda previously said it plans to close 82

stores by Jul y 31. Today, 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.

 

Disney Store owner has the right to close 98 stores 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 Children's

Place filed for bankruptcy protection in late March. In the news release,

Disney 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.

 

Home Depot store closings

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

Thursday that it is shuttering 15 of them amid a slumping US. 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 percent.

The Atlanta-based company said the underperforming U.S. stores being closed

represent less than 1 percent of its existing stores They will be

shuttere! d withi n the next two months .

 

CompUSA (CLOSED) clarifies details on store closings Any extended

warranties purchased for products through CompUSA will be honored by a

third-party provider, Assurant Solutions. Gift cards, rain checks, and

rebates purchased prior to December 12 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.

 

Macy's - 9 stores

 

Movie Gallery - 160 stores will close as part of a 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.

 

Pep Boys - 33 stores

 

Sprint Nextel - 125 retail locations

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.

 

J. C. Penney, Lowe's and Office Depot will be scaling back and cutting jobs.

 

Ethan Allen Interiors - The co! mpany a nnounced plans to close 12 of 300+

stores in an effort to cut costs.

 

Wilsons the Leather Experts - all 260 mall stores.

 

Pacific Sunwear will close its 154 Demo stores after a review of strategic

alternatives for the urban-apparel brand Seventy-four underperforming Demo

st! ores cl osed last May.

 

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.

 

Bombay Company

The company unveiled plans ! to clos e all 384 U.S.-based Bombay Company

stores. The company's online storefront has discontinued operations.

 

KB Toys posted a list of 356 stores that it is closing around the United

States as part of its bankruptcy reorganization.

 

Dillard's to Close More Stores

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.

Starbucks: Starbucks will close approximately 600 company- operated stores in the U.S.

Pier 1: Announced that they would be closing an undisclosed number of stores.

Kirklands: A chain of home decor stores will be closing nearly 130 stores nationwide.

Sprint: to cut 4500 jobs. and 125 stores.

Linens 'n Things: Is closing 120 stores nationwide

Dell Inc. closed its 140 kiosks in the United States

Liz Claiborne Inc. said it's closing the entire 54-store Sigrid Olsen chain.

Lone Star Steak House: 27 stores closing.

84 Lumber: 12 stores closing

Rite Aid: 28 stores

Big Dollar: dollar stores closing 10 stores

[queenofshopping]

Oh Bombay...

 

:bigcry:

[tdx27]

Wow! That's quite a list. I would guess it will grow even larger in the next 6 months to a year.

[genoandkiddo]

I agree, you should watch your area for closures. But if you do happen to buy a gift card, you can still use them on some of the companies websites. Like Disneystore, Old Navy, JCpenney,

and a few others. I like buying the pre-paid visa's myself. They work alot better and can be used pretty much everywhere.

[cassgurlie04]

ugh i bought some gift cards already this year, mostly to restaurants.......... does anyone know if starbucks franchise locations allow the gift card to be used in their stores????? or only corporate owned ones......

[myshopping]

KB toys has already closed in my area. That use to be one of my 1st. stops.

[genoandkiddo]

You can use a StarBuck gift at any location. Like I said in my post earlier, there are stores that you can use them at other locations. Just because one of your stores close does'nt mean in the next down over, you will not be able to use them. Like Target's gift card, you can only use it at a Target store. It makes no difference which store, but only a Target store.

 

That's why I go for the pre-paid Visa's.

[Tara3117]

My local paper published an article this morning saying this email is bogus.

 

Here's the link: http://www.eagletribune.com/punews/local_story_323234535.html

[Illinoismom]

Well I would say 95% on this list is true,

 

Eddie Baure is gone from this area as is the Disney store, CC is closing 155 stores, we no longer have a KB, Wilson's is also gone as is sharper image. There is a lot of truth to this.

[elena_398]

My Fashion Bug already told customers its closing. My mom is all upset as that is the only place she finds clothes she likes.

[epgpjp]

Got this email today... some of these were already listed above.

 

Scary news Ahead

 

It seems there are lots of stores that are closing due to the "recession" and the fact that people are not shopping. If you have any "gift cards" from these stores, make sure you use them, or you will lose them !

 

 

 

Watch those store money cards and gift cards.. and credit slips! Stores that informed the Security Exchange of closing plans between October 2008 and January 2009. PLEASE PASS THIS ON TO ALL YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS.

 

 

 

Circuit City stores... most recent (? how many)

 

Ann Taylor- 117 stores nationwide are to be shuttered

 

Lane Bryant,, Fashion Bug ,and Catherine's to close 150 store nationwide

 

Eddie Bauer to close stores 27 stores and more after January

 

Cache will close all stores

 

Talbots closing down all stores

 

J. Jill closing all stores

 

GAP closing 85 stores

 

Footlocker closing 140 stores more to close after January

 

Wickes Furniture closing down

 

Levitz closing down remaining stores

 

Bombay closing remaining stores

 

Zales closing down 82 stores and 105 after January.

 

Whitehall closing all stores

 

Piercing Pagoda closing all stores

 

Disney closing 98 stores and will close more after January.

 

Home Depot closing 15 stores 1 in NJ (New Brunswick)

 

Macys to close 9 stores after January

 

Linens and Things closing all stores

 

Movie Galley Closing all stores

 

Pacific Sunware closing stores

 

Pep Boys Closing 33 stores< BR>

Sprint/ Nextel closing 133 stores

 

JC Penney closing a number of stores after January

 

Ethan Allen closing down 12 stores.

 

Wilson Leather closing down all stores

 

Sharper Image closing down all stores

 

K B Toys closing 356 stores

 

Loews to close down some stores

 

Dillard's to close some stores.

[wnielsen1]

Well I would say 95% on this list is true,

 

Eddie Baure is gone from this area as is the Disney store, CC is closing 155 stores, we no longer have a KB, Wilson's is also gone as is sharper image. There is a lot of truth to this.

Just because retailers are closing SOME stores (i.e. downsizing) does not make the gift cards worthless. For gift cards to be worthless, it needs to declare Chapter 7 (liquidation) bankruptcy. For some stores, that is a possibility. Still, I will redeem nearly any gift card I receive within days.

[Illinoismom]

Just because retailers are closing SOME stores (i.e. downsizing) does not make the gift cards worthless. For gift cards to be worthless, it needs to declare Chapter 7 (liquidation) bankruptcy. For some stores, that is a possibility. Still, I will redeem nearly any gift card I receive within days.

 

I never said they would be worthless, I stated be careful where you buy them, Thats a big difference. I do not do gift cards my self as I feel they are inpersonal but thats my choice.

[samisma]

whether or not part of the email might be 'bogus', this is still a valid concern/warning.

 

sure, a company might not close all of their stores - but they might close all the stores in your area. and a lot of these businesses do not have online shopping. so while the card itself might not technically be worthless, it'd be worthless to you unless you could sell it.

 

thank you illinoismom!

[wx4svr]

Thanks for bringing that up! I usually give money, but I have been going to Gift Cards more and more over the last few years. Looks like I may go back to cold hard cash. lol.

[gbeenie]

Cash is king, my friend. It always fits, and their favorite store gladly accepts it.

[peifgirl]

http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/storeclosings.asp

[msl94]

My wife and I were talking about this topic the other night, and I mentioned to her that there are Visa gift cards available through our bank that will work just as well as a store gift card. Although they are along the lines of the Visa, Mastercard, and AMEX gift cards that you see at your grocery store's checkout line, my bank does not charge a fee for these Visa cards and can be given in any denomination.

[Iliveforblckfri]

I agree, you should watch your area for closures. But if you do happen to buy a gift card, you can still use them on some of the companies websites. Like Disneystore, Old Navy, JCpenney,

and a few others. I like buying the pre-paid visa's myself. They work alot better and can be used pretty much everywhere.

I prefer giving the always accepted ultimate gift card, CASH. I will only buy gift cards for myself when I am getting more for my money. I hate the fact that VISA charges us money to buy their gift card which is essentially giving them an interest free loan.

 

On the clarkhoward.com website, he has a good letter to pass out when you give cash.

 

Darla

[tootsieroll23]

Darn. I always put gift cards on my Christmas wish list. I am hard to please and that way I get exactly what I want. I only saw two stores on the list that I like gift cards from.

[JohnnyLaRue]

Yes the company may accept the gift card but it does the person little good if the nearest store too far away.

 

I do the gift card thing (for random people and for some in my college classes) and just can't bring myself to give cash (as stated above).

[dramaqueen72500]

All I know is that in my mall/in my area these stores have already closed: Eddie Bauer,Lane Bryant, Talbots, Wickes, Bombay, KB Toys, Circuit City, Linens & things and Whitehall/Lundstrom jewelers. If any more stores close around me I will have nothing!

[bugsette]

I know I bought a Pondersa one and they closed here I'm out 25.00

[gbeenie]

I prefer giving the always accepted ultimate gift card, CASH. I will only buy gift cards for myself when I am getting more for my money. I hate the fact that VISA charges us money to buy their gift card which is essentially giving them an interest free loan.

 

On the clarkhoward.com website, he has a good letter to pass out when you give cash.

Clark Howard is teh_bomb.