Love them or hate them, give them or get them, despite a teetering economy and uncertain futures for many retailers, gift cards are likely here to stay.
"I love gift cards," said Michelle Denes, 33. "We're in the military and have lived far away for years. Gift cards eliminate mailing expense, and people can choose their own things to buy."
Denes, born and raised in Waterford, was visiting family here over Thanksgiving. Her husband, Jonathan, originally of Marietta, is stationed at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, where the couple lives.
"I'm always mindful of what (kind of stores, restaurants, etc.) people have around them before I buy a gift card," she said. "For example, when we were stationed in England, if we got a gift card for a U.S. restaurant, we might not be able to use it."
Her favorite choice of a gift card to receive is one such as Land's End, Best Buy or Wal-Mart.
"I like Wal-Mart pretty well because of the variety of things available," Denes said. "For people who are hard to buy for, that is a good gift card to get."
This shopper keeps up with business news and is aware some retailers, like Circuit City, for example, might be headed into red ink. If a business goes belly up, unused gift cards might as well be cut in half and tossed.
It's a fact of life today that worries some Americans, but not enough to put the skids on the enticing plastic gifts.
Bruce MacIntyre, 54, said a gift card is a present and he enjoys receiving all presents - plastic or otherwise.
"Presents are a good thing," said MacIntyre, who lives in New York City and returns home to Marietta several times a year.
Still, he suggests caution for those giving and getting the gift cards.
"Watch American Express gift cards," MacIntyre said. "They will deduct from the balance if you don't use it soon. It's a 'use-it-or-lose-it' thing. Given the current economic climate, it's a wise thing to be careful."
Selecting major bank gift cards may be the safest bet, he said.
"Know the audience you are playing to," MacIntyre said. "For example, my mother doesn't get out to shop and wouldn't use a gift card anyway. It would be a waste."
When MacIntyre was a child, his father went to the local bank and purchased a "can of money" for the young boy.
"It was such a cool gift," MacIntyre said. "But you hated to open it and if you didn't open it, you couldn't spend the money inside."
Like money-in-a-can, if the person receiving the gift card squirrels it away and forgets where it's been placed, neither sender nor receiver benefits.
"It's a pain," MacIntyre said. "You might not have the card with you when you are in the particular store where it can be used."
For Mawuli Togbi-Wonyo, a student at Marietta Bible College from Togo, a nation in West Africa, gift cards are a welcome gift at Christmastime.
"Actually, I do like gift cards a lot," he said. "People who give them to me, I really appreciate it, but I do not think restaurant cards are so good to give."
Togbi-Wonyo said a person may not like to eat at the particular restaurant sponsoring the card and it would not be of good use.
He prefers cards that are redeemable for cash at a variety of places.
"I think the best is a card that is in money form," Togbi-Wonyo said.
Don't suggest a Christmas gift card - or a gift card any other time of year - to Joan Coffey of Marietta.
"Never," Coffey said frankly. "A gift card is not personal enough for me, and I don't like the environmental issues of the plastic cards."
In addition, most gift cards are tied to large chain stores.
"I don't approve of chain stores," Coffey said.
She has never given a gift card and never received one.
"I guess people know how I feel about them," Coffey said.
Jennifer Powell, 27, of Vincent, is sold on gift cards, especially at Christmas, and has used them more and more over the past several years, she said.
"You can never go wrong with a gift card," Powell said. "Actually, we do a lot of them. I have nieces in teen years and you never know what they may need."
With a gift card, the guessing is eliminated.
"Normally we do Kmart or Wal-Mart, and that's fine with them. There's lots of selection," Powell said. "They can actually buy what they want."
She isn't shy about asking for a gift card this Christmas for herself.
"I like them too," Powell said.
