I wanted to give everyone a heads up that if you tend to give gift cards around the holidays, you need to be careful that the cards will 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 will be worthless January 1. 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 1 in NJ ( New Brunswick )
Macys to close 9 stores after January
Linens and Things closing all stores
Movie Galley Closing all stores
Pep Boys Closing 33 stores
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 stor~s
K B Toys closing 356 stores
Loews to close down some stores
Dillard's to close some stores

For more info. and validity check this out!

http://www.snopes.com/politics/busi...oreclosings.asp

This is a great thread!

Thanks for looking out!


I'm gonna miss sharper image they had some really cool stuff

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If you fill your heart with regrets of yesterday and the worries of tomorrow, you have no today to be thankful for.

This is not sad, but thanks for the heads up.
There is over saturation of consumeristic bullshit!

Sharper Image crap, while cool looking.. can be made either cheaper/better, and undoubtebly be sold for a much MUCH lower price.

Thin "stereo" wall hanging boombox, overpriced hyped up massage chairs, air purifiers (the ionic breeze is NO joke, but is wayyyyyyyy wayyyyyyyyyyy too expensive)

etc etc.


wow KB toys though, Amazon killed them...
Linens and Things - too much like Bed Bath and Beyond

http://www.smartbrief.com/news/nfib/storyDetails.jsp?issueid=8D5C2A04-1B93-49EB-8EB7-A125BC4EEEA9©id=2A9239E4-F07C-49AB-B117-F92E44AB9519

quote:

More shoppers will pass on gift cards this season NFIB SmartBrief | 11/20/2008 Gift-card sales are expected to decline 9% this holiday season because consumers are spending less and shoppers are worried that the merchants backing the cards could go bankrupt, according to a report from the research firm TowerGroup. "The sensitivity heightened in 2008 following the bankruptcies of CompUSA, Linens 'n Things, and Sharper Image, where more than $100 million in gift-card value became compromised in the wake of retailer filings," said Brian Riley of TowerGroup. Boston Globe, The (11/20)

Mitch Hedberg had a similar quote:

I think a gift certificate is a bad gift. What's a gift certificate? You take money that was good everywhere.....
(just give me the $20 man, that is a universial gift certificate!

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-Chris
"the night moves me" NIGHTMOVES.ME nightlife+lifestyle photography

Last edited by |Thrax| on Nov-20-2008 at 20:35

I'm patiently waiting for the retail industry bailout package, shortly followed by the cookie industry bailout package (come back Mrs. Fields )

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quote:

Originally posted by |Thrax| This is not sad, but thanks for the heads up. There is over saturation of consumeristic bullshit! Sharper Image crap, while cool looking.. can be made either cheaper/better, and undoubtebly be sold for a much MUCH lower price. Thin "stereo" wall hanging boombox, overpriced hyped up massage chairs, air purifiers (the ionic breeze is NO joke, but is wayyyyyyyy wayyyyyyyyyyy too expensive) etc etc. wow KB toys though, Amazon killed them... Linens and Things - too much like Bed Bath and Beyond http://www.smartbrief.com/news/nfib...17-F92E44AB9519 Mitch Hedberg had a similar quote: I think a gift certificate is a bad gift. What's a gift certificate? You take money that was good everywhere..... (just give me the $20 man, that is a universial gift certificate!

COMMUNIST SWINE!!!

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Jaded, old fart is me.

quote:

Originally posted by |Thrax| This is not sad, but thanks for the heads up. There is over saturation of consumeristic bullshit! Sharper Image crap, while cool looking.. can be made either cheaper/better, and undoubtebly be sold for a much MUCH lower price. Thin "stereo" wall hanging boombox, overpriced hyped up massage chairs, air purifiers (the ionic breeze is NO joke, but is wayyyyyyyy wayyyyyyyyyyy too expensive) etc etc. wow KB toys though, Amazon killed them... Linens and Things - too much like Bed Bath and Beyond http://www.smartbrief.com/news/nfib...17-F92E44AB9519 Mitch Hedberg had a similar quote: I think a gift certificate is a bad gift. What's a gift certificate? You take money that was good everywhere..... (just give me the $20 man, that is a universial gift certificate!

It's not 'over saturation' of consumer stuff... it's the economy. Credit freeze, consumer confidence at all time lows, massive layoffs spiking the unemployment rate, foreclosures, real estate mkt falling apart. No body wants to spend, spend, spend... and ALL retailers are getting hit hard, so they are forces to cut costs...

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"Ibiza will be Earth’s final refuge after Armageddon" -Nostradamus

quote:

Originally posted by bas (come back Mrs. Fields )

And mothers!

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What?

When ________(insert something) in the vast machine of life fails, this being credit market(s), Unfortunately.... (yes its a HUGE HUGE cog in the world we live in.) Not even saying that it is warrented that these companies fail...

But, when something influences and changes the way people thing. Making more informed purchasing decisions, it can only benefit the individual. That, and we get massive price drops on goodies we can/want to afford.

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-Chris
"the night moves me" NIGHTMOVES.ME nightlife+lifestyle photography

quote:

Originally posted by diskodave It's not 'over saturation'

Hate to say it, but too many retail businesses are over saturated. Starbucks is just one of the many. Target went through this problem many years ago as did many other companies. Opening stores in markets that can't justify having them.

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quote:

Originally posted by bas Dual exhaust tips on dual exhaust = QUAD EXHAUST = 300 gain in horsepower. Duh

quote:

Originally posted by bas Undies with a dickhole aren't good for guys. Your balls can get caught in them. That's why I prefer to go over the gate instead of through the fence.

Damn that's a lot of closures!!!

quote:

Originally posted by bas I'm patiently waiting for the retail industry bailout package, shortly followed by the cookie industry bailout package (come back Mrs. Fields )

Where is tobacco's bailout package!!!

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SERVARE VITAS

A good store to get a Gift Card at or do all of your shopping is Kohl's.

If you have never been, it blows Wal-Mart, Target, and K-mart out of the water.

And it is safe to say that as a company, they will not be going under any time soon.