Beware of Gift Cards this Holiday Season

[DayDreamer]

Posted: 11/20/08 at 3:22pm

A friend just posted this ... hadn't even thought about it. I checked some ... I had no idea The Gap was closing 85 stores.

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Heads up if you tend to give gift cards around the holidays; you need to be careful that the cards may not be honored after the holidays.

Stores that are planning to close after Christmas are still selling the cards through the holidays even though the cards may be worthless January 1st. There is no law preventing them from doing this (On the contrary, it is referred to as 'Bankruptcy Planning).

Below is a partial list of stores that you need to be cautious about.

Circuit City (filed Chapter 11)
Ann Taylor 117 stores nationwide closing
Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug ,and Catherine's to close 150 stores nationwide
Eddie Bauer to close stores 27 stores and more after January
Cache will close all stores
Talbots closing down specialty stores
J. Jill closing all stores (owned by Talbots) Pacific Sunwear (also owned by Talbots)
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
Macys to close 9 stores after January
Linens and Things closing all stores
Movie Galley Closing all stores
Pep Boys Closing 33 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


Gift Card Warning: Check Retailer's Health

[Q]

Posted: 11/20/08 at 3:24pm

That's a scary list.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 11/20/08 at 3:27pm

Holy Cowpie!

[Biff AKA Levi]

Posted: 11/20/08 at 3:28pm

Just because the store is closing, doesn't mean the card is useless. There are other stores out there.

[tazber]

Posted: 11/20/08 at 3:31pm

Crap! I just bought a Pep Boys gift card for my mom.

Updated On: 11/20/08 at 03:31 PM

[DayDreamer]

Posted: 11/20/08 at 3:35pm

I guess if one must give gift cards, it's best to give a Visa card or something like that than can be used anywhere, instead of a store-specific card.

OR actually put some thought into it and actually give a gift. Now there's a thought.

[Parks]

Posted: 11/20/08 at 3:37pm

The list says that some of the companies are closing ALL of their stores--so some of the gift cards could end up being worthless.

[gcal]

Posted: 11/20/08 at 3:41pm

who knew that the Piercing Pagoda's market would be affected!

[NGD2225]

Posted: 11/20/08 at 3:42pm

Just because the store is closing, doesn't mean the card is useless. There are other stores out there.
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You can also use them on the internet.

[StockardFan]

Posted: 11/20/08 at 3:44pm

Wow!

[SNLMedia]

Posted: 11/20/08 at 3:54pm

What a list!

Is Sharper Image going to sell exclusively online after the new year?

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 11/20/08 at 3:59pm

I'm surprised Levitz has lasted this long. I thought they were gone in the 90s.

[Marianne2]

Posted: 11/20/08 at 4:07pm

My mother warned me about this too. I mean, if you shop at these stores, I can see where it would affect you. But, also I think people forget sometimes that you can also shop online, if the store is not going out of business.

[Parks]

Posted: 11/20/08 at 4:09pm

Do stores tend to continue to have online shops even after all real shops have closed?

[Marianne2]

Posted: 11/20/08 at 4:12pm

I don't know. That's why I just assumed you could still use the ones where the stores were not going completely out of business.

[Q]

Posted: 11/20/08 at 4:24pm

I don't care about the gift card scenario (I tend to agree with DD about the whole 'gift' thing.)

I just think the list is scary because it's a pretty blatant sign of what's going on in this country right now.

[Calvin]

Posted: 11/20/08 at 4:32pm

Just FYI, that list is not entirely accurate. Some of them are closing announcements that have already happened and such.
Snopes clears it up as best it can

[justme2]

Posted: 11/20/08 at 4:37pm

Yes...please be aware that Gap stores are not ALL closing and your giftcard can be used at one of the thousands of other GAP stores and online sites.

Jesus. It's stories like this that cause more trouble than they are worth!

[SweetQintheLights]

Posted: 11/20/08 at 5:08pm

"I guess if one must give gift cards, it's best to give a Visa card or something like that than can be used anywhere, instead of a store-specific card. "

As much as I like that idea, each Visa gift card is $3.95 extra. And other cards, such as Mastercard, are charging $5.95 extra. My friends mother asks all the family what they would like for the holidays. 9 of them said Visa card. When she realized that would cost an extra 36$, she decided that she is just going to give them cash.

[EVIE]

Posted: 11/20/08 at 5:14pm

Glad to know that the Target gift cards I'm giving will be safe for now. I can't believe Macy's made that list!

[Kasie]

Posted: 11/20/08 at 5:17pm

Disney closing 98 stores?! What horrible news.

Thanks for the heads up. I was just about to get my mom a GAP gift card. She'll just have to settle for Old Navy.

[justme2]

Posted: 11/20/08 at 5:21pm

OK:

1. Gap and Old Navy are the same company. So is BR, FYI.
2. There is no reason NOT to purchase gift cards from this company...Please read the actual news stories and the Snopes De-bunking site as well.

[StockardFan]

Posted: 11/20/08 at 6:05pm

Also you can use Ann Taylor gift cards at Ann Taylor Loft!

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 11/20/08 at 6:18pm

So, I take it Justme2 works for The Gap.

[justme2]

Posted: 11/20/08 at 6:30pm

Yes, you can. Headquarters. And we deal with this kind of crap every day in my dept.