In the Wake of Litigation Over the Ionic Breeze Air Purifier and Bankruptcy Looming, Sharper Image Halts Redemption of Gift Cards

On Tuesday, Sharper Image went one step further in its bankruptcy filing, announcing it would no longer accept gift cards. You can read about it here as well as other sites: www.11alive.com/money/article_money.aspx

Here's the good news: you have one less gift card to carry around and remember to redeem.

Of course, the bad news is that you have one less gift card that is worth redeeming in the first place.

You could always try appealing to the managers of the store, of course but apparently they do not have the power or authority to make any final decisions. So chances are slim to none that you'll be able to redeem your Sharper Image gift certificate, not unless you find a sympathetic store employee who is willing to lend you the money (give it to you without any expectation of getting it back).

In the meantime, Sharper Image continues to try and restructure its business in an attempt to pay off prebankruptcy loans. Litigation over the Ionic Breeze air purifier was cited as a major financial blow to the company. I wince when I read that because we were one of those people who actually bought an Ionic Breeze. Yes, I admit it. We bought an Ionic Breeze and kept sniffling, sneezing and suffering the same allergy symptoms in the room where we placed it. So we already suspected it wasn't doing much good before Consumer Reports came out with its study.

I admit I am a bit baffled and here is one thing -when Sharper Image catalogues hit our mailbox, the guys in this household always reached for it. They reached for it eagerly. Maybe they just wanted to see what new or outlandish item was being sold. Maybe it was the "cool factor". Still, they'd usually say something like "That might be a neat item." But did they buy anything (other than that blasted air purifier?) No. No, they did not.

So we bought an Ionic Breeze air purifier that was later investigated by Consumer Reports as being potentially ineffective in reducing allergens. There was even a lawsuit about the Ionic Breeze and Sharper Image settled that lawsuit, offering partial rebates to customers. You can read about that here:
www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16715088/

The lawsuit hit the company financially - and certainly not in a good way.

Mostly, though, many of the stores were simply under-performing, according to the media reports (as many as half of the 184 stores that were open). Half of those stores are slated to be closed.

There is a possibility,however slim, that customers may be able to redeem those cards at some point. If you want to take a chance on that, by all means hang onto your cards. We didn't get any this year but the store near us was pretty busy so I'm assuming someone did. Only time will tell if the company can restructure and become profitable again, perhaps under a different name. In the meantime, I wouldn't be betting on the stability of those gift cards, now or later.