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---
description: National Use Your Gift Card Day targets January 17, 2026. Macy’s, Ace Hardware and Applebee’s illustrate the different economics behind redemption reminders.
title: National Use Your Gift Card Day: January 17, 2026 campaign
image: https://giftcard.news/images/social/v1/national-use-your-gift-card-day-targets-january-17-redemptions-11bf7d76a29ce1136c7783753206e5d5.jpg
---

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# National Use Your Gift Card Day targets January 17 redemptions

January’s redemption campaign gives merchants a reason to reconnect with gift recipients. The benefit depends on visits and purchases, not simply unused balances.

By [Suzie Elis](https://giftcard.news/author/suzie-elis/) January 5, 2026 3 min read [ Google News ](https://google.com/preferences/source?q=giftcard.news&utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news) 

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![Official National Use Your Gift Card Day artwork showing a Macy’s gift card above a campaign card](https://giftcard.news/images/variants/v1/national-use-your-gift-card-day-targets-january-17-redemptions-official-artwork-w1000.webp) 

 Official campaign artwork for National Use Your Gift Card Day. Photo: UseYourGiftCard.com 

[National Use Your Gift Card Day](https://giftcard.news/organization/national-use-your-gift-card-day/) has set January 17, 2026 for its seventh annual campaign, using the weeks after holiday gifting to encourage recipients to spend balances they already hold. The January 5 announcement named [Macy’s](https://giftcard.news/company/macy-s/), [Ace Hardware](https://giftcard.news/company/ace-hardware/) and [Applebee’s](https://giftcard.news/company/applebee-s/) as supporters. [\[S01\]](#article-source-1)

The commercial aim is different from selling another card. The value has already been purchased; the campaign seeks to turn ownership of that value into a shopping or dining occasion. A recipient who never visits cannot become a repeat customer through that card alone.

## One reminder, three retail models

[Tracy Tilson](https://giftcard.news/person/tracy-tilson/) founded the campaign, promoted through UseYourGiftCard.com. Its announcement points to January shopping, home improvement purchases and restaurant bonus-card promotions, without establishing a common discount or shared terms across the participating brands. [\[S01\]](#article-source-1)

Macy’s combines stores with digital shopping, giving a redemption reminder more than one route back to the retailer. [\[S04\]](#article-source-4) The opportunity is to bring a gift recipient into the assortment and service experience, potentially introducing the business to someone who did not buy the card.

Ace Hardware has a different ownership structure. Established in 1924 by Chicago hardware store owners, it remains owned by local retail entrepreneurs, with most stores independently operated. [\[S02\]](#article-source-2) A national campaign can therefore carry customers towards locally run businesses, rather than a uniform chain of company-owned shops.

Applebee’s belongs to [Dine Brands](https://giftcard.news/company/dine-brands-global/) and distributes gift cards through restaurants, its website and other retailers. [\[S03\]](#article-source-3) The separation between where a card is purchased and where a meal is served makes the return visit especially important: a supermarket shopper buying a present is not necessarily the eventual restaurant guest.

## Where the merchant benefit could appear

Redemption can create the occasion for a larger basket, a return trip or a relationship with a new customer. These are plausible benefits of bringing someone through the door, not reported results of the 2026 campaign. A merchant still supplies goods or services against the balance, and any additional discount has an economic cost.

The recipient’s interest is simpler: convert an existing balance into something useful. That can align with the merchant’s desire for traffic, but a reminder is not equivalent to newly created purchasing power. The balance already existed before the campaign date.

This also explains why counting redemptions alone would be an incomplete commercial assessment. A promotion might move purchases forward from a later week without increasing total demand. To establish incremental benefit, a retailer would need to distinguish additional visits and spending from transactions that would have happened anyway.

## Bonus cards require separate treatment

The announcement’s references to holiday bonus cards do not make every bonus equivalent to an ordinary purchased gift card. [\[S01\]](#article-source-1) Consumers need the terms of the specific instrument, while merchants need to distinguish a funded gift balance from a promotional benefit when assessing a campaign’s cost.

No January 2026 redemption total or measured sales lift accompanies the announcement. [\[S01\]](#article-source-1) The event provides a shared reason to contact gift recipients; the economics will depend on the behaviour that follows. For an industry often focused on issuance, that puts attention back on whether the card delivers a useful customer encounter.

## In this article

### Companies

* [Ace Hardware](https://giftcard.news/company/ace-hardware/)
* [Applebee’s](https://giftcard.news/company/applebee-s/)
* [Dine Brands Global](https://giftcard.news/company/dine-brands-global/)
* [Macy's](https://giftcard.news/company/macy-s/)

### People

* [Tracy Tilson](https://giftcard.news/person/tracy-tilson/)

### Organizations

* [National Use Your Gift Card Day](https://giftcard.news/organization/national-use-your-gift-card-day/)

### Sources and documents

* [\[S01\] January 5 campaign announcement](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-year-new-money-national-use-your-gift-card-day-returns-302648497.html?utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news) — National Use Your Gift Card Day
* [\[S02\] Retailer-owned company history](https://www.acehardware.com/about-us?utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news) — Ace Hardware
* [\[S03\] Company and gift card information](https://www.applebees.com/en/faq?utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news) — Applebee’s
* [\[S04\] Retail business profile](https://investors.macysinc.com/company/macys/?utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news) — Macy's

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![Portrait of Suzie Elis](https://giftcard.news/images/variants/v1/suzie-elis-editorial-portrait-w320.webp) 

About the author

## [Suzie Elis](https://giftcard.news/author/suzie-elis/)

Journalist — Gift Cards & Digital Gifting

Suzie Elis covers gift card products, digital gifting and distribution for Gift Card News.

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