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Clark Howard, the consumer reporter in the Atlanta area, suggests not giving gift cards at all this year. If the business goes under, the card will not be good and that will just be money down the drain.
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, Catherine's closing 150 stores nationwide. The owner of retailers Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug , Catherine’s Plus Sizes will close about 150 underperforming 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, Talbots announced that it will be shuttering all 78 of its kids and men's stores. Now the company says it will close another 22 underperforming 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.
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 o fits stores in December. The retailer dates back to 1910 when Richard Levitz opened his first furniture store in Lebanon , PA. In the 1960s, 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 82nd stores by July 31. Today, it announced that it is closing another 23underperforming 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 just put up their closing sign), Atlanta . 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 underperforming U.S. stores being closed represent 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
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 all scaling back...
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 underperforming 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.
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 underperforming 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 underperforming stores this year.
Circuit City announced they will be closing over 150 stores starting January
1st 2009........
Don't Buy Gift Cards
Starbucks & (Red)
Drink of choice? Tall, non-fat, Caramel Macchiato, please. My all-time favorite that I haven't gotten in awhile. I paid $3.48...also better known as "money I shouldn't be spending in the first place." However, tonight was different. I didn't mind spending $3.48 for a cup of coffee because 1. I needed to get out of the house and 2. I really wanted it. But here's the good news, Starbucks is partnering up with (RED) this holiday season! For every (Starbucks) Exclusive Drink you buy, five cents will be donated to help save lives in Africa! Let's just say, that made me feel good about my Caramel Macchiato.$3.43 to Starbucks, $0.05 to saving lives in Africa.
Manhattan alone has 171 Starbucks. 171 x $0.05 x the number of New Yorkers who buy coffee as exemplified by comedian/filmaker Mark Malkoff in his short film that can be found at www.171starbucks.com ... you do the math.
As my Nutrition professor, Dr. Amy Ozier, would say, "Small changes make BIG differences."
Photo by adweek.com
Cards That Give
It's that time of the year again. When we remind each other how much we love and care for each other because it's the holidays, and that's what people do. But instead of sending a holiday greeting via text/email or greeting the entire Facebook world by changing your status...this time, just this once, why not do something different?
Americans purchase nearly 7 billion greeting cards each year, generating nearly $7.5 billion in retail sales. If it were easy for individuals and businesses to buy their greeting cards from non-profit organizations, card sales could generate millions of dollars for worthy causes. -CardsThatGive.org
It's a million dollar idea, really. Charity greeting cards. We greet and donate to our charity-of-choice...at the saaammmeee tiiimmeee. CardsThatGive.org is your main source for charity greeting cards this year. Here are a few of my faves!
Solstice Scene The Humane Society of the United States
Holiday SceneProject Bread
Peaceful VillageRoswell Park Cancer Institute
I Will Not Kill What I Love
I needed to do this. I had to make a turn. I've been going down this paved road towards who-knows-where for some time now and needed a change of scenery, change of direction, change of perspective. About a year ago, I remember talking to a friend about our want and need to get out of this place. To move away, anywhere but here. We agreed on "Phoenix"...it was such a distant thought then...one of those things we plan to do, forget we ever planned it, and go on with our lives.
“Oscar Wilde said: ‘Each man kills the thing he loves.’ And it’s true. The mere possibility of getting what we want fills the soul of the ordinary person with guilt. We look around at all those who have failed to get what they want and feel that we do not deserve to get what we want either. We forget about the obstacles we overcame, all the suffering we endured, all the things we had to give up in order to get this far. I have known a lot of people who, when their personal calling was within their grasp, went on to commit a series of stupid mistakes and never reached their goal—when it was only a step away."
Source: Paulo Coelho, (2002). The Alchemist.
I got in. As of January 2009, I will be starting my dietetic internship at Central Michigan University. I will be leaving everything that I know, moving to my "Phoenix", and will know absolutely no one. A new chapter, if you will, chasing my dreams. I didn't want to kill what I love. I didn't want to let it go. I refused to forget about it. And I fought for it until I got it.
The question is, why aren't I as ecstatic about it as I thought I'd be? Just the idea, of wanting something so bad, and then getting it? That scares me. Because it proves that anything really is possible.
And so, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to present to you, my new home as of January 2009:
Plateaus, Sweaty Hands and Irregular Heartbeats
A few weeks ago, I spoke of hitting rock bottom. Today, I tell you a little bit about the town of plateaus. You're going to have to excuse my back-to-back-to-back entries about me, myself, and I and all things affecting me. Sometimes, things just are, and they freakin' hurt...the question to focus on is: What exactly are you going to do about it? That, my friend, is where you come in. That's the part where all I ask, is for you to listen.
I find out about whether or not I got into a dietetic internship program and/or grad school in less than a week. 12:01 a.m. Monday, November 17, 2008 to be exact. The day when it all changes. The day I've been waiting for the past 7.5 weeks (9 months if you count the first time I applied and didn't get in, 1.5 years if you start counting from my graduation date when I decided I needed to apply). Without further exaggeration, it's been a long time coming. Why can't I seem to wait six more days? Because it's all I think about every minute of every day. Because everything that I accomplish in a day exemplify my feeble attempts trying not to think about it, or plotting out my great escape if (knock on wood) the unthinkable happens and...I don't get in.
What I have been trying to focus on is...this is the best part. The anticipation, the apprehension, the not knowing. It's like the moment before the first kiss, the look on a groom's face the second his wife-to-be is in his sight, the sweat that makes hands sticky right before a first date, the silence that takes over a table of great conversationalists when the waiter comes out with their food. It's like that, it feels like that. Because once it happens, the excitement is all gone, and the circle of this seemingly routine life starts all over again. This is the best part. I, Monica, am fully capable of waiting six more days. Because once I know...well, then I'll just know. And what kind of excitement is there when you just know?
My life, is currently a town of plateaus because...I don't know what's ahead of me, I don't know what to do from here on out. This year has been emotionally draining and never have I ever felt so lost...yet found (contradicting, I know). They say that life is what you make it, that you'll get what you want as long as you keep fighting for it. But what happens when you lose grasp of that thing you want, subsequently destroying every ounce of hope that you've been holding onto for as long as you can remember? You try again...and again...and again...(notice the ellipsis).
Ever failed.
No matter.
Try again.
Fail again.
Fail better.
-Samuel Beckett
YouTube Does Good
YouTube...we all go on it. It's a secret obsession, an addiction. Something we probably shouldn't be bragging about. It's become a part of our life, our vocabulary.
"I spent my entire weekend 'YouTubing' the most random videos." Fact.
What exactly did I "YouTube"? I'll admit that I watched a bunch of Beyonce videos, and looked into Rihanna and Chris Brown. What can I say? I was bored. But don't be fooled, there's more to YouTube than movie stars and music videos. Believe it or not, YouTube actually has a nonprofit program. Check it out:
"Does your organization have a compelling story to tell? Do you want to connect with your supporters, volunteers, and donors but don't have the funds to launch expensive outreach campaigns?
YouTube can help.
Video is a powerful way to show your organization's impact and needs, and with a designated "Nonprofit" channel on YouTube, you can deliver your message to the world's largest online video community."
You know YouTube is making a difference when...
