[Chad]

Watch Where You Buy Giftcards!

Giftcards are a very popular item for the person who is hard to buy for. Unfortunately due to the hard economic times and other factors, some stores are planning to close their doors (or at least some of their locations) and if you buy someone a gift card from these stores they may not have very long to use them! If you have a gift card from one of the stores listed below you should think about using it now to get holiday gifts or buying something for yourself before they can no longer be used if the store closes completely.

Stores to keep an eye on:

• Circuit City - Filed for bankruptcy on November 10, 2008 and announced the closure of 155 stores. (source)
• Ann Taylor - Earlier this year announced it would close 117 stores. (source)
• Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug, and Catherine's - Nine months ago parent company Charming Shoppes Inc. announced the closing of 150 stores. (source)
• Eddie Bauer - Closed 31 retail and outlet stores (in line with target number set early in the year) and opened 10 during the first three quarters of 2008. (source)
• Cache - Announced early in the year it would close 21 stores and open 16 in 2008. (source)
• Talbots - Closed approximately 100 stores in 2008 but is still in business and has no more closings planned. (source)
• J. Jill - Owned by Talbots Inc., which wants to sell the chain but has not announced the closure of any J. Jill stores. (source)
• Gap Inc. - In mid-2008 revised its projected number of store closings (including Gap, Banana Republic, and Old Navy locations) upward from 85 to approximately 115 stores for the year. (source)
• Foot Locker - Projected closing 140 stores in 2008. As of Nov. 20, had closed 129 stores and opened 58 new ones. (source)
• Wickes Furniture - Filed for bankruptcy in early 2008 and already closed down all retail stores. (source)
• Levitz Furniture - Filed for bankruptcy in late 2007 and is still in the process of liquidating assets. (source)
• The Bombay Co. Filed for bankruptcy in 2007 and announced it would close all U.S. stores. (source)
• Zales - Last February announced the planned closure of 105 stores in 2008. source
• Whitehall Jewelers - Filed for bankruptcy in June 2008 and is Closing all stores. (source)
• Piercing Pagoda - Owned by Zales. Some, but not all, Piercing Pagoda locations were among the 105 planned closures announced by Zales in Feb. 2008. (source)
• Disney - Announced in May 2008 it would close 98 stores. (source)
• Home Depot - Announced in May 2008 it would close 15 stores nationwide. (source)
• Macy's - Closed 9 stores in 2008. No more closings planned (source)
• Linens 'n Things - Filed for bankruptcy in May 2008 and is closing all stores. (source)
• Movie Gallery - AKA Hollywood Video, filed for bankruptcy in 2007 and closed hundreds of stores but remains in business. (source)
• Pacific Sunwear - In Jan. 2008 announced the closure of 154 "demo" stores nationwide. (source)
• Pep Boys - Closed 31 locations in 2008. (source)
• Sprint Nextel - In Jan. 2008 announced it would close 125 stores. (source)
• JC Penney - No recent announcements of planned store closures.
• Ethan Allen - In Jan. 2008 announced plans to consolidate 12 retail design and service centers. (source)
• Wilson Leather - Already closed 160 of its stores and is converting the remainder to sell women's accesories. (source)
• Sharper Image - Filed for bankruptcy in early 2008 and announced plans to close all 184 stores. (source)
• KB Toys - Last year closed 156 stores. No closures announced for this year. (source)
• Lowe's - Has scaled back planned store openings but announced no plans to close locations. (source)
• Dillard's - Closed at least three stores in 2008. New CEO says the company will continue closing underperforming stores. (source)

[bauhaual]

I think most of those stores are American.

[jmbauman]

I found the sweetest thing at Shopper's Drug Mart when I was looking for a gift card for my friend - it's a MasterCard Giftcard!

You can get $25, $50, or $100 cards, and then whoever you're giving it to can buy stuff anywhere MC is accepted (which is everywhere. even Tim Horton's accepts it)

[kokosas]

Holy crap thats a lot of stores, and you're right bauhaul they are mostly American but they function...or did... in Canada too so it's going to effect us. Aiee!!

[klinx]

I received this email too, and while it is a good way to warn people, I would just advise everyone not to stop buying from these stores altogether. Just because there's been whispers of closing stores doesn't mean every one of them is going to close.

I've spoken to the manager at J.Jill (one of the stores on the list) and she said that they have no plans to close. It would just be a shame if everyone said 'Oh, J.Jill is closing for sure, better not buy anything from there anymore.'

Just my two cents..

[kokosas]

I don't think the idea is to not shop there completely. The idea is to just avoid buying gift cards for people this season, buy an actual gift instead, that way if the chain shuts down the gift doesn't become null and void.

[ferreinm]

This is not good, not good at all. So many people are losing jobs and not only in those stores.

[samantha__]

Well Linens n' Things is definitely closing down in both Canada and the U.S. The U.S site/stores are having a liquidation thing pretty much... and the Canadian site states that the store is closed. Eeeeek. Ah well, this means good savings for everyone but loss of jobs for a ton people =( What a shame