Your Toys R Us Gift Cards Could End Up Being Worthless, Experts Say

By: Meagan Friedman

If you have a few bucks left over on a Toys R Us gift card, don’t wait until the next big birthday or holiday to redeem it. Depending on the results of a bankruptcy hearing this week, the iconic toy-store chain might be closing all of its stores in the United States — and eventually that gift card might be worthless, Business Insider reports.

Toys R Us hasn’t commented on the possibility of going out of business, let alone the state of its gift cards. But according to the report, when past chain stores have closed, some customers have been left with gift cards that lost their value, like when Borders closed in 2011. Other times, when stores have closed, the companies would give customers a deadline for using the gift cards before they lose value. So the safe bet is to use that gift card now, or at least take advantage of the massive going-out-of-business sales that may be coming.

Corali Lopez-Castro, a bankruptcy lawyer and managing partner at KozyakTropin and Throckmorton, told Business Insider that if Toys R Us plans to go out of business, stores could be closed within weeks. “Toys R Us is not going to want to drag this out,” she told the site. Store closings are already happening in the U.K., the BBC reports.

CBS News reports that the gift card issue hasn’t yet been worked out, but what is certain is that if the liquidation takes place, it would mean the largest retail layoff since 2015, and up to 33,000 workers could lose their jobs.

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