Talbots History & Historical Profile

Historical Record

October 2013 Summary: The Talbots Inc. is a United States-based company, which operates as a retailer and direct marketer of women's clothing, shoes and accessories. The Company offers blazer, trench, white shirt, ballet flat and pearls. It sells its products through different outlets. It also provides e-commerce service and its website offers MyTalbots, which allows customers to register for benefits and customize their online shopping experience; Style by Design appointment shopping; Pearls of Wisdom, offering fashion advice and styling ideas; and a Find in Store feature, which enables customers to locate and reserve merchandise in any Talbots store. In 1947, our founders Nancy and Rudolph Talbot opened their first shop in Hingham, Mass. a quaint New England town not far from Boston. Their business quickly became known as "the store with the red door" and a go-to destination for classic style, great color, impeccable tailoring and personalized service. In 1948, Nancy and Rudy launched their direct mail business by distributing 3,000 black-and-white fliers to names obtained from The New Yorker magazine. Today, there are more than 500 Talbots stores throughout the U.S. (45 states) and Canada with catalogs and an e-commerce site reaching a vast audience of customers around the world. Talbots became a public company in 1993 and was traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol TLB. The private equity firm Sycamore Partners acquired Talbots in August 2012 for $391 million (including debt).

April 2006 Summary: Talbots was founded in 1947 in a 17th-century colonial frame house in Hingham, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston. The following year, the Company launched its direct mail business by distributing 3,000 black-and-white flyers to names obtained from The New Yorker magazine. Today, Talbots is a leading national specialty retailer, cataloger and e-tailer of classic apparel, shoes and accessories. At the end of fiscal year 2005, Talbots operated 1,083 stores throughout the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom, and its catalog operation circulated approximately 48 million catalogs worldwide. Talbots online shopping site is located at www.talbots.com. Each of its three sales channels offers the classic, high quality merchandise that has been Talbots trademark for more than 50 years.