Partially true. Not trying to give you a hard time Ron. My mom often sends me these chain letters and I've learned to verify them before believing a word they say.
Some of the stores on your list may be closing and you are right, the store doesn't have to honor the gift cards if they go out of business. Buyer beware!
Taken from About.com at
http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/busine ... osings.htmAbout.com wrote:
Comments: Don't be misled by this alert. While it's true that many U.S. companies are being adversely impacted by the economic recession and some will no doubt close locations and/or file for bankruptcy in the coming months, most of the store closures announced above have either already taken place or were in the works before the 2008 downturn began.
Here's the real scoop, as of this writing, on each of the companies listed above:
Circuit City - Filed for bankruptcy on November 10, 2008 and announced the closure of 155 stores.
Ann Taylor - Has announced the closure of 117 stores.
Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug, and Catherine's - Nine months ago parent company Charming Shoppes Inc. announced the closing of 150 stores.
Eddie Bauer - Closed 31 retail and outlet stores (in line with target number set early in the year) and opened 10 during the first three quarters of 2008.
Cache - Announced early in the year it would close 21 stores and open 16 in 2008.
Talbots - Closed approximately 100 stores in 2008 but is still in business.
J. Jill - Owned by Talbots Inc., which wants to sell the chain but has not announced the closure of any J. Jill stores.
Gap Inc. - In mid-2008 revised its projected number of store closings (including Gap, Banana Republic, and Old Navy locations) upward from 85 to approximately 115 stores for the year.
Foot Locker - Projected closing 140 stores in 2008. As of Nov. 20, had closed 129 stores and opened 58 new ones.
Wickes Furniture - Filed for bankruptcy in early 2008 and already closed down all retail stores.
Levitz Furniture - Filed for bankruptcy in late 2007 and is still in the process of liquidating assets.
The Bombay Co. Filed for bankruptcy in 2007 and announced it would close all U.S. stores.
Zales - Last February announced the planned closure of 105 stores in 2008.
Whitehall Jewelers - Filed for bankruptcy in June 2008 and is Closing all stores.
Piercing Pagoda - Owned by Zales. Some, but not all, Piercing Pagoda locations were among the 105 planned closures announced by Zales in Feb. 2008.
Disney - Announced in May 2008 it would close 98 stores.
Home Depot - Announced in May 2008 it would close 15 stores nationwide.
Macy's - Closed 11 stores in 2008.
Linens 'n Things - Filed for bankruptcy in May 2008 and is closing all stores.
Movie Gallery - AKA Hollywood Video, filed for bankruptcy in 2007 and closed hundreds of stores but remains in business.
Pacific Sunwear - In Jan. 2008 announced the closure of 154 "demo" stores nationwide.
Pep Boys - Closed 31 locations in 2008.
Sprint Nextel - In Jan. 2008 announced it would close 125 stores.
JC Penney - No recent announcements of planned store closures.
Ethan Allen - In Jan. 2008 announced plans to consolidate 12 retail design and service centers.
Wilson Leather - Already closed 160 of its stores and is converting the remainder to sell women's accesories.
Sharper Image - Filed for bankruptcy in early 2008 and announced plans to close all 184 stores.
KB Toys - Last year closed 156 stores. No closures announced for this year.
Lowe's - Has scaled back planned store openings but announced no plans to close locations.
Dillard's - Closed three stores in 2008. New CEO says the company will continue closing underperforming stores.
Please view the full article at About.com for source information to back up these facts. There are so many I didn't have time to copy all the links.
It looks like most of the companies are simply scaling down with the drop in public demand, but there are a few that look like gonners.