Mastermind Toys customers warned to use gift cards by Dec. 24 as company is set to change hands

Mastermind Toys shoppers have less than a week to redeem store gift cards.

TheCanadian toy retailerannounced earlier this monththatit hadsigned an asset purchase agreement with Unity Acquisitions Inc.

Mastermind filed for creditor protection under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act (CCCA) on Nov 24.

Customers are now being told their gift cards will not be honoured at thecompany's 66 locations pastChristmas Eve.

"Gift cards will not be accepted after December 24 for the remainder of the CCAA(Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act) process, until the acquisition of Mastermind by Unity Acquisitions Inc. closes," company spokespersonDavid Ryan saidin an email to CBC News.

Ryan said this information is being communicated to customers in-store.

On Wednesday, a sign taped to the door ofMastermind Toys in Coquitlam, B.C., announcedgift cards will only be accepted until the end of business on Dec. 24.

Ryan said he could not confirmif gift cards would be accepted again once the dealwith Unity Acquisitions has closed, which is expected to happen inJanuary.

Mastermind is owned by Birch Hill Equity Partners Management Inc. and has been facing increasing competition, disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic and more recently, a deteriorating economy that has customers spending less.

The Canadian toy retailer filed for creditor protection onBlack Friday,a sales period that is typically a boon for retailers.

An Ontario court granted Mastermind permission to liquidate stores.

The Toronto-based toy retailer saysit would close 18 of its 66 stores: nine locations in Ontario, four in Alberta, two in New Brunswick and one each in B.C., Nova Scotia and Manitoba.

The full store closure list is here.

Unity Acquisitions Inc. is run by Joe Mimran, Frank Rocchetti and David Lui.

Mimran is best known for founding Club Monaco, creating the Joe Fresh brand for grocer Loblaw Companies Ltd., and in more recent years, helping revive hat business Tilley Endurables Inc. with Rocchetti.

Meanwhile, Lui has spent time at Canadian Tire Corp. Ltd.'s brands Sport Chek and Mark's, and is chief executive of clothing retailer Kit and Ace, which the trio also own. The group also owns Casca Footwear, a premium shoe company from Vancouver.

Mastermind and Unity did not disclose the financial terms of their deal.

The deal includes the majority of Mastermind Toysstore locations and will allow a "significant'' portion of the company's 800 employees to continue with the business.

According to a release,Mastermind Toys is the country's largest specialty toy and children's book retailer and has been in business since 1984.