Gift Cards to Avoid this Holiday Season

Tis the season for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and the many other December holidays.  If gift cards are on your shopping list, here is an article to read before deciding which ones to purchase.  I saw this article this morning and although I hardly ever buy gift cards for people, I do occasionally receive some.

The article lists 5 gift cards to avoid purchasing this year (unless of course you have money to spend on those you dislike).  The five to avoid are: Sears, American Airlines, FYE, Dippin' Dots, and Rite Aid.  Why?  Well, these companies are not doing so "hot" in the economy and purchasing a gift card now, that will be given in a few weeks and probably not be used until the spring is just down right risky.  The article discusses each company's financials and why its not looking good for them in the future, so if you were contemplating a gift card from one of these places, I encourage you to look into the company's first.  For example, FYE is an electronics store that sells CD's, DVD's and Blu-Ray discs in malls and may not be around in a year.

I think Sears is the only store we have here in Bozeman (with the exception of American Airlines, but who buys a gift card to an airline?  I would rather have the cash!!).  Sears is also the only company on the list that I would ever even consider buying a gift card from!

As nice as gift cards are, (I especially enjoy ones to Target, JoAnn's and Michael's),  I think the article makes a good point to look into a company and make sure they are still going to be around long enough for the "gifted" to use his/her gift card.