Similar here. We used to be great at avoiding the corporate stores until we had a kid. Convenience and selection wins when you’re overstressed and sleep deprived.

I think we’ve done great at rolling back to local-only shopping this year. No Amazon, no target. Costco still gets out visits, but overall we’re being much more thoughtful about who gets our money and we’re spending significantly less also.

They don’t get to record it as revenue, but they do get to sit on the cash, earning interest etc on it. Companies loooove gift cards. It’s free money.

For a company health perspective, it’s better to use it so they’re at least put the cost-of-goods. Best option would be to sell the gift cards to someone who was going to shop there anyways.