Gift Cards at Risk With National Retail Chains Closings. Share this list on your profile ->
Avoid a gift card disaster this year, and avoid stores that may or may not be closing. While most of these national chains are not closing entirely, they may be closing completely in the city of your city recipient and you run the risk of giving a gift card to a friend that has no value to them.
Dell Inc. closed its 140 kiosks in the United States as the computer maker is changing its retail strategy to sales in partnering stores.
New York & Co. already shut its chain of 23 Jasmine Sola upscale women’s clothing stores in January.
Liz Claiborne Inc. said it’s closing the entire 54-store Sigrid Olsen chain.
Whitehall closing all stores
Piercing Pagoda closing all stores
Linens and Things closing all stores
J. C. Penney, Lowe’s and Office Depot are scaling back or delaying expansion. Office Depot had planned to open 150 stores this year, but will now open 75.
Lone Star Steakhouse – 27 Stores closing
Urban Interiors & It’s Gotta Go – 2 stores
84 Lumber – 12 stores
Rite Aid – 28 stores
Lillian Vernon – Catalog
Kirkland’s – 30 to 13 stores – Management of the national home-decor chain told analysts it intends to close 30 underperforming stores during the fourth quarter, which ended in January. It is considering closing even more stores (up to 100) in the next 18 months, saying it wants to focus on stores not based in malls.
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, Catherines closing 150 stores nationwide. The owner of retailers Lane Bryant , Fashion Bug , Catherine’s Plus Sizes will close about 150 under performing 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, Talbot’s announced that it will be shuttering all 78 of its kids and men’s stores. Now the company says it will close another 22 under performing stores.. The 22 stores will be a mix of Talbot’s women’s and J. Jill , another chain it owns. The closures will occur this fiscal year, according to a company press release.
Sears: Closing eight stores.
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 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 1960′s, 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 July 31. Today, it announced that it is closing another 23 under performing 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. (E. Brunswick, Rt 18 in New Jersey just put up their closing sign)
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 under performing U.S. stores being closed represents 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 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 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.
Pacific Sunwear – 153 Demo stores
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. Not clear how many stores are closing.
Ethan Allen Interiors: The company announced plans to close 12 of 300+ stores in an effort 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 under performing 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.
Starbucks: Closing 600 stores.
KB Toys posted a list of 356 stores that it is closing around the United 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 under performing stores this year.
Alert 1: Do not click on ‘sponsored links’ in Google. I’m getting reports of people being tricked into being directed to different websites from the URL displayed in the ad and then a virus is installed. It seems to be widespread enough to use caution when clicking on advertising links in Google. The problem with Google’s ‘sponsored links’ happens because people can pay and pick their own message if they have money. This was first reported at cars.com but now has spread. USA Today has also reported on this. (Illustration of Links to Avoid). Pass it on!
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