FAIRFIELD-SUISUN, CALIFORNIA
Kathleen Pender: Use it or lose it: Gift cards could become worthless if the issuer goes bankrupt [San Francisco Chronicle]
Jan. 2 If you received a gift card for Christmas, first thank the giver, then use it. Fast.
Many companies that issue gift cards such as retailers, restaurants, movie theaters, gyms and spas have been hard hit by pandemic shutdowns and are closing in large numbers. The number of retailers filing for bankruptcy in 2020 was the highest since 2009, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.
When companies go bankrupt, their gift cards can become worthless. With smaller companies, it can happen overnight. With larger companies, consumers often have a period of time to use their gift cards, but not always.
Use it or lose it: Gift cards could become worthless if the issuer goes bankrupt
FacebookTwitterEmail
1of2
Guitar Center, which has a store in Emeryville, went bankrupt in 2020 and continues to sell and accept gift cards as it works to reorganize and emerge from its financial woes.Carlos Avila Gonzalez / The ChronicleShow MoreShow Less
2of2
Guitar Center, which has a store in Emeryville, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November but exited on Dec. 22 after restructuring its debt. It continued to honor gift cards during its brief stay in bankruptcy.Carlos Avila Gonzalez / The ChronicleShow MoreShow Less
If you received a gift card for Christmas, first thank the giver, then use it. Fast.
2020 Year in Review: Retail Upended, Reset Continues
December 31, 2020
As 2020 comes to a close, it’s time to reflect back on a wild and crazy year in retail, to paraphrase the Festrunk brothers from Saturday Night Live.
COVID-19 came in like a wrecking ball in February and March, causing widespread shutdowns that hit retail especially hard, leading to hockey-stick growth in ecommerce as consumers everywhere hunkered down to stay safe and purchased tons of essential goods from their devices.
Entire subsets of the population that had been avoiding online buying for various reasons suddenly shifted to digital as it became the only game in town. The consensus of industry experts is the behavior shift will remain locked in even if the pandemic lifts as we all hope.
CBL Properties CoolSprings Galleria
What Lies Ahead for CBL and PREIT After Bankruptcy? With all mall REITs struggling, those that focus on class-B and class-C properties face a particularly challenging future.
Mall landlords CBL & Associates Properties Inc. and Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust (PREIT), both of which are generally focused on class-B and -C malls, were already suffering pre-pandemic. However, the COVID-19 health crisis has taken an even bigger toll on these mall operators, as it forced some tenants to permanently close stores while others stopped paying rent.
Both REITs filed for bankruptcy protection in early November and are the latest victims of the pandemic. Both said their malls are staying open as they work through the bankruptcy process.
Lord + Taylor set to close CT stores within weeks
FacebookTwitterEmail
The Lord & Taylor store at the Danbury Fair mall in Danbury, Conn., will close on Dec. 28, 2020 or in the following 14 days, according to Lord + Taylor’s parent company.H John Voorhees III / Hearst Connecticut Media
The bankrupt department-store chain Lord + Taylor plans to shut down its stores at the Danbury Fair mall and Westfarms mall in Farmington within the next two to four weeks, but it has not provided an update about the closing dates for its establishments in Stamford and Trumbull.
Le Tote, parent company of Lord + Taylor, outlined its plans for the Danbury Fair and Westfarms locations in recent letters to the state Department of Labor correspondence that followed an October letter that had said the Connecticut stores were expected to close in the first half of December. The labor department has not received new letters about the closing schedule for the Stamford and Trumbull stores.