Major retail operator files for bankruptcy: Customers have less than a month to use gift cards

If you have a gift card for outdoor retailer Eddie Bauer, you will want to use it soon.

The bankrupt store operator is in the process of shutting down and has set a deadline for the last day it will accept gift cards and loyalty points. According to documents cited by Bloomberg, customers have until March 12 to use gift cards and Eddie Bauer’s Adventure Points. All sales made at stores now are final and can’t be exchanged or returned.

The retail operator of the clothing brand in the U.S. and Canada filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February with a plan to auction off its brick-and-mortar operations. Eddie Bauer LLC, part of the portfolio of Catalyst Brands, has about 180 retail and outlet stores in the U.S. and Canada, including two locations in Alabama, with Eddie Bauer outlets in the Tanger Outlet Center in Foley and Grand River Outlets in Leeds.

It was the chain’s third bankruptcy filing in 23 years.

Proceedings do not affect Eddie Bauer’s online or wholesale operations, which are owned by a separate company called Outdoor 5.

At its peak in 2001, Eddie Bauer had 600 stores. At the time of the bankruptcy filing, that number had dropped to 175.

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