Gift cards you need to spend now

FORT MYERS, Fla. – Sports Authority is closing its doors soon and you have just days to use gift cards at the sports store.

Rather-Be-Shopping blogger, Kyle James, said the store is accepting gift cards until June 28th. James said Sports Authority is not the only store you need to watch out for.

“Aeropostale, they just announced they’re closing 113 stores, going into Chapter 11. They’re still accepting gift cards but you just don’t know for how long,” he said. “PacSun, they just went into Chapter 11, still accepting gift cards. The one just to be aware of to have on your radar screen: Sears and Kmart. They recently announced they’re closing 78 stores. Still accepting gift cards, but you just don’t know how long these stores are going to be around.”

James said if you are waiting to get a better deal, don’t. He said a “liquidation sale” often has limited inventory and it is better to go before that point. And if you have a gift card to a store that is already closed, like Radio Shack, you can try to file a claim to get some of your money back.

“Radio Shack stopped accepting gift cards on March 31st, but you can go onto oldradioshackgiftcard.com and you can actually file a claim through there until December. It’s obviously better than nothing but you might not get all your money back.”

The Sports Authority stores in Naples and Cape Coral are still open.