Hey, folks, here is a consumer tip for the holidays sent to me by my wife, Barbara, through another source. I just wanted you to be aware.

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 Jan. 1. There is no law preventing them 
from doing this. On the contrary, it is referred to as bankrupcy 
planning). Below is a partial list of stores that you need to be 
cautious about. 

Circuit City (filed Chapter 11)

Mervyns closing all stores

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 stores 
K B Toys closing 356 stores 
Loews to close down some stores 
Dillard’s to close some stores