To Give or Not To Give...Gift Cards?

I know it may sound kinda of non-christmas"ish", but I LOVE gift cards. I like the fact that I can go "hunting" for deals after the holidays. However, it's has almost become a gamble because the stores may or may not be around to redeem the card. I received the following email from a friend and I am passing the information on to you. Again, this was an email, however based on what I have heard in the news and seen around town...it's seems to be right on the mark. Maybe we should all just get back in the old habit of giving a gift that we really had to think about, pick out and wrap.

EMAIL AS FOLLOWS:

Wow! We really are in a mess.
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