Gift Card Advice
Monday, December 31st, 2007As we close the holiday season I would like to offer advice for 2008. Stop giving gift cards! It is estimated that Americans will not redeem over 8 billon dollars in gift cards. Not 8 million, 8 billion..can you image it? Retailers love gift cards for that very reason -they end up in drawers, books, and other places where we forget about them. I was cleaning for the
holidays and I almost tossed out a $200 gift card from Home Depot.
What ever happened with those lovely envelopes that the bank gave out during the holidays? My aunt Caroline used to give us bank holiday envelopes where you could clearly see Jackson, Grant, Jefferson…get it?
For some reason these envelopes have been deemed impersonal as gifts and I say hogwash! I am sure that Macys, Home Depot and Barnes and Noble think bank holiday envelopes are impersonal since, when people use gift cards, it is cash in their pockets.
So here’s to cash, you won’t forget it, it won’t go in a drawer and it will be remembered with fondness like my aunt
Caroline…I so loved her envelopes and miss them and her.
-Fran Gallagher, publisher and CEO
