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Thursday, November 06, 2008

Be VERY Careful Where You Buy Gift Cards This Holiday Season

STORE CLOSINGS AND LAYOFFS

If you have gift cards, hurry up and use them!!

Ann Taylor closing 117 stores nationwide. A co mpa ny 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, 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.

Ta lbots, 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 the 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 immedia te ly reached for comment.

Wickes is going out of business. Wickes Furniture is going out of business and losing 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 retailer, which is going out of business. Levitz first announced it was going out of business and closing 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 o wner of Zales and Piercing Pagoda previously said it plans to close 82 stores by July 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. Walt Disney in the news release 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. &a mp; nbsp;(E. Brunswick, Rt 18 just put up their closing sign), ATLANTA - 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 U.S. 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 shuttered within 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 rebat es p urchased 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. http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9834177-7html


Macy 's - 9 stores closing.

Movie Gallery & Hollywood Video - 160 stores as part of 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 are scaling back.

Ethan Allen Interiors - the company announced plans to close 12 of 300+ stores in an effo rt to cut costs.

Wilsons the Leather Experts - 158 stores.

Pacific Sunwear will close its 154 Demo stores after a review of strategic alternatives for the urban-apparel brand. Seventy-four underperforming Demo stores closed 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 - (Freehold Mall store closed) The company unveiled plans to close 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 U nited States as part of its bankruptcy reorganization. To see the list of store closings, go to the KB Toys Information web site, and click on Press Information.

Dillard's to close more stores. Dillard's Inc. said it will continue to focus on closing under-performing 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.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is in your face reality, trust me people we havent seen anything yet.

BossHogg said...

Joe: The readers should know that when a store files bankruptcy, these cards are worthless.

Thats right not worth a dime!!!

You should also read hte fine print because many cards actually expire but the expiration date is not printed on the card because it's tied to the purchase date.

Anonymous said...

"Ann Taylor closing 117 stores nationwide. A company spokeswoman said the company hasn't revealed which stores will be shuttered." - Yea, the Daily Times are being shuttered down by you.

Anonymous said...

The devolution of the United States is just beginning, make way for radical Islam.Kashkari is paving the way for Sharia tolerant financing from the US Treasury right this minute.

Anonymous said...

What's left? Wal-Mart?

Anonymous said...

Maybe this Christmas as Americans we should take an old school approach. I dont have to tell any of you how tight money is this year, we are all well aware of this. Instead of shopping as usual and charging our way into the abyss perhaps this would be better. Why dont we make a point to have a really nice home-made dinner with the people we love all sitting around or near the same table. I have kids and i know you have to get a little something for them, thats a must. But set tighter limits on it this year. We always buy all this chinese made junk we have to take out of the attic two years later and dump, well save ourselves the trouble. I bet alot of wives would probably rather have a personal letter from their husbands just all feelings and love then they would any present. Girls like that stuff. I quess my point is we all may be tight on bucks but it doesnt mean we still cant have the best holiday ever. After all we still all have things in our lives that are beyond it all. you know our families our histories and our dreams, this year maybe thats all we need. Just some stuff floating around in my head.

joe albero said...

I like your style Doug.

Anonymous said...

Irans Ahmadinejad has already posted his congrats to Obama with a stern waring that the US better overhaul its current policies. Russia is lieing up its missile shields in defiance. We have really screwed the pooch by electing this son of Malcolm X.

Anonymous said...

Doug Wilkerson - you have a great idea here, and I hope people will listen to you and everyone else out there suggesting this course of action. My family just moved to Salisbury and our widespread family has decided to gather here for Christmas to be together. Light on the gifts, heavy on the family time. This is a perfect opportunity to teach kids about quality vs. quantity.

Irrelevant said...

Your news on Hollywood Video (as well as Movie Gallery and Game Crazy which make up the same corporation) is dated. The store closures were complete this past summer and the company has emerged from bankruptcy and in fact recently completed a debt to equity conversion that left it quite stable and in fact able to open new stores.

I work for Game Crazy as a store manager but I want to be clear I do not claim to speak for it.

Anonymous said...

That over 3,000 stores!! How many lost jobs do you think that is?

Anonymous said...

Doug, great idea! It's how Christmas should always be spent. I buy for my parents, otherwise everything that is given out is baked with lots of love. It will be several weeks before the bitterness of the election has lightened in some hearts. Just remember no matter who was elected it was too late to help the businesses listed in Joe's post, thanks to Bush. I'm sorry if I stepped on anyone's toes. We're Americans, we're gonna be stronger by facing this economical nightmare.

Anonymous said...

The best gift I've ever received was made by my grandchildren. When you get right down to it which would you have longer, something purchased or something made from the heart? I keep everything these kids make, how about you? I don't know anyone that doesn't have a talent at something, wood working, knitting, crocheting, baking, painting etc. Give the gift of food to the elderly, what more could they need other than maybe a refill on a much needed prescription? Stop supporting all of these foreign owned and foreign supplied businesses. Follow Doug Wilkersons advise spend what is most valuable on your family and loved ones. Spend your time.

Happy Holidays to all.

Anonymous said...

Everyone needs to get off the Eastern Shore while they can.

Anonymous said...

I work for Ann Taylor Stores Corporation and wanted to assure you that Ann Taylor is a financially strong Company with a healthy balance sheet. We already communicated early this year that we are closing a number of stores through 2010, but we continue to open new stores and have close to 1,000 stores in our fleet. Ann Taylor and LOFT Gift Cards are a great idea for gifting this holiday, and they can be redeemed at any of our stores or online. Although the source of this viral email is questionable, we felt we should clarify the misleading information because we want our clients to always feel confident in their Ann Taylor purchases.

Anonymous said...

With exception to underperforming stores whose leases are set to expire, I have it on good authority that Movie Gallery is not planning on closing any of its stores. It has recently emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptsy and is growing. The giftcards purchased at all Movie Gallery stores are good in Movie Gallery stores and will remain to be. Please go to www.moviegallery.com and check the release for yourself. I have checked the site and read the official letter myself. For all of you who are taking part in spreading these extremely harmful rumors and then complaining about how the economy is going down, you may want to stop and think about what you are doing to aid in this recession. Major companies are having to fight off these rumors and having to reassure their customers that making gift card purchases is safe. Rumors like these are hurting businesses and therefore putting jobs in danger. I think it would be wise for each of you to check with the official site for each of these companies before you continue to spread this garbage. Take a good look at what you are doing to hurt our economy.