roadsmith
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posted on November 18, 2008 03:47:52 PM new
Hi, all: A friend just sent this to me. If it's on the up and up, it's a good warning for us. ~Adele
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
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 stores
K B Toys closing 356 stores
Lowes to close down some stores
Dillard's to close some stores
There's probably more--be careful or just avoid gift cards this year all
together!
_____________________
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pixiamom
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posted on November 18, 2008 04:45:20 PM new
How depressing!
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profe51
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posted on November 18, 2008 06:43:06 PM new
partly true, according to snopes.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/bankruptcies.asp
what's really depressing is, pretty soon there'll only be WalMart. Yuck.
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cblev65252
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posted on November 18, 2008 06:53:14 PM new
I agree, prof! I have a Walmart credit card that I only used for my eye exams. I happen to like the doctor at my local Walmart and my contacts were relatively cheap. Now, I pay my bills on time and always pay more than the minimum. Just got a letter from Walmart telling me they are lowering my credit limit. No rhyme or reason. They got one back from me canceling my card with them. I'll find another eye doctor.
Cheryl
Whitman said she and McCain share a philosophy of scaling back the role of government. a point of view partly shaped by her EBay experience. "The EBay model is very Republican in its essence -- it's about making a small number of rules and getting out of the way while not overtaxing the community," she said.
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deichen
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posted on November 18, 2008 08:00:24 PM new
Thank you for the info.
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cashinyourcloset
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posted on November 19, 2008 03:50:39 AM new
One way around the problem is to give a Visa gift card.
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hwahwa
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posted on November 19, 2008 04:48:58 AM new
WALMART is not the only one,AMEX is worse.
*
Economic Reform act of Chairman Obama of the socialist States of America :
10 ounces of meat per month,half a yard of cotton per year per adult.
Hellilujah!
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logansdad
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posted on November 19, 2008 08:05:11 AM new
Roadsmith you can add Club Libby Lu to your list. It is closing all it stores.
Strabucks is closing some stores at the end of the year.
Sunglass Hut is also closing some stores
Sears survival will depend on how the Christmas season goes.
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logansdad
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posted on November 19, 2008 08:17:39 AM new
Cheryl, it is not just credit card companies that are lowering limits. Banks are doing this with home equity lines. There are a good number of them that started to do this in the summer after they saw the big drop in home prices. Mine was cut in half without telling me.
Banks and credit card companies are being more selective on who they give credit to.
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shagmidmod
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posted on November 24, 2008 10:14:56 AM new
My mom called me really miffed at Wells Fargo b/c after years of having good credit standing... and holding a balance (where they make their profits off interest) they sent her a letter stating they were doubling her interest rate to above 20%! No late payments or anything else that would have drawn this type of letter.
I told her that Wells is also one of the largest recipients of the bailout money... so she called them and told them where to stick their credit card. She closed the account and is paying it off.
I am also closing my personal and business checking accounts at Wells Fargo b/c of the bailout. I encourage everyone to see if their big bank or mortgage company is getting federal money too and do the same to those who get corporate welfare.
I just opened two business checking accounts that gain interest + a business savings account with zero fees per month.
Wells Fargo charges $6.00 for each account. Why the hell should I pay Wells $18 a month to send that money out of my neighborhood into some fat cat CEO's wallet when I can keep my money in a local community credit union/bank and support the local economy???
I say... TAKE A HIKE WELLS FARGO!!!
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cashinyourcloset
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posted on November 25, 2008 03:45:49 AM new
There won't be too many places to bank if you're avoiding banks that take bailout money.
I happen to bank at Commerce/TD Bank, which was recently purchased by Canadian TD, so I don't think they've taken money.
Citi just got LOADS of money in a very non-transparent deal (from the bottom of the deck).
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