The state urged Sports Authority gift card holders Monday to act fast as the Englewood, Colo., company is set to close or sell its Hawaii locations.

Stephen Levins, executive director of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affair’s Office of Consumer Protection, said Hawaii residents who have gift cards, certificates or store credits from Sports Authority should redeem their balances, and customers with unwanted merchandise should return those products immediately.

Sports Authority filed for bankruptcy protection in March and said last week it was no long seeking to reorganize, but would instead sell its assets and close. The company has more than $1 billion in debt.

“If you currently have a Sports Authority gift card, you should use it immediately to avoid losing whatever credit it contains,” Levins said. “An important guideline with gift cards is to use them as soon as you can, because if a store closes or goes bankrupt, there may be little to no recourse for a consumer to recover an unspent balance.”

The company is set to close or sell its eight stores in Hawaii along with the rest of its 450 stores nationwide. The eight stores in Hawaii are in Hilo, Honolulu, Kahului, Kailua-Kona, Kaneohe, Kapolei, Lihue and Waikele.

Sports Authority’s mainland offices could not be reached for comment Monday.

Sports Authority has an auction scheduled for late May, the state said.

The immediate future for the retailer and its employees is unclear.

Windward Mall spokeswoman Crystal Yamasaki said the mall did not have any information regarding the Sports Authority store at the mall. Management at the Sports Authority in Windward Mall declined to comment.

Sale signs were going up at Oahu Sports Authority stores Monday.

Some Oahu residents at the Sports Authority at Windward Mall looked to beat potential sales-seeking crowds.

Kailua resident Denise Tanner, 49, said she was going to bring both of her sons to the Kaneohe location later this week to get them shoes before the store is picked over.

“Both boys need new shoes,” Tanner said. “Otherwise you have to go to the other side of the island to a specialty store, and that is so much more expensive for a boy whose shoe size grows so fast.”

Windward Mall had announced in January that Sports Authority would expand into two empty adjacent retail spaces and a closed children’s play area over the next several months. With the expansion, Sports Authority would have grown in size by 46 percent, to 38,804 from 26,657 square feet.

“This is such a big space,” said Kaneohe resident, Grace Torres, 50. “I wonder what they will do with the space.”

The sporting goods retailer became one of the anchors at the mall in 2012 by filling a space vacated by book retailer Borders. The two neighboring spaces were previously occupied by The Children’s Place and Little People Hawaii.

Sports Authority’s two neighboring retail spaces and the recently closed play area sat empty Monday.

Kaneohe resident Kawelo Kawainui, 35, said he and his son used to use the play area often.

“That was a place I could always go and hang out with him while my wife shopped,” Kawainui said.

A new children’s play area is opening Friday in the Macy’s wing of the mall.