Talbots

Talbots will close 83 stores by the end of the year and a total of 110 stores by the end of 2013 as part of its cost reduction program. The program is intended to generate approximately $50 million in annualized cost savings by the end of fiscal 2012.

Talbots is slashing another 100 jobs at its Hingham, Mass. headquarters, abruptly suspending its national advertising campaign, and reportedly looking for new leadership after years of a failed turnaround.

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Hingham, Mass. — Talbots posted a bigger-than-expected second-quarter loss on Wednesday, largely due to increased markdowns. The retailer also said that chief creative officer Michael Smaldone has departed the company, effective immediately. Talbots reported a net loss of $37.3 million for the period ended July 30, compared with a profit of $941,000 a year earlier. Revenue fell 10% to $271.1 million from $300.7 million. Same-stores sales fell 10.4%. Talbots said its sales and traffic so far in the third quarter are down and anticipates its high levels of promotions and markdowns will continue. The company’s decision to part ways

Talbots took a series of steps, including firing its creative head, to fix its long-running merchandise problems, sending the women's clothes retailer's shares up as much as 12 percent. The company, whose sales have fallen steadily for the past five years, fired Chief Creative Officer Michael Smaldone to "bring in new creative leadership."

NEW YORK — Talbots said on Tuesday that its board of directors has adopted a shareholder rights plan -- or a poison pill -- to protect its stockholders after a private equity firm disclosed it had acquired a sizeable stake in the company. On Monday, Sycamore Partners LP revealed it had acquired a 9.9% stake in Talbots and said it planned to attempt to talk with the retailer about strategy and operations. Reports put Talbots’ market value at $288 million, and suggest a buyout would exceed $400 million. In its move to protect shareholder value, Talbots adopted the poison

An important factor to success for any online retailer is which keywords to find and add to your search marketing efforts. Most retailers keep a lid on their most successful keywords, but the process for finding them isn't exactly a secret. Kate Goodman, vice president of e-commerce at women's apparel retailer Talbots, and Courtney Wegner, client services manager at iProspect, a search marketing firm, shared best practices to finding your brand's keywords in a session titled, How I Found My Best Keywords, at the Internet Retailer Conference & Exhibition in San Diego yesterday.

Facing decreases in same-store sales and shrinking customer bases, Gap and Talbots are planning to close a combined 300-plus stores over the next two years. By 2013, Gap plans to close 200 of its 900 locations, 22 percent of its current total, and Talbots will shutter 110 of its 580 units, a 19 percent decrease.

Talbots announced it's named Lesli Gilbert senior vice president of stores, effective June 27. Gilbert will be responsible for overseeing all aspects of Talbots core retail operations in the U.S. and Canada, as well as supporting the implementation of the company's store reimage and rationalization programs. She will report directly to Trudy F. Sullivan, president and CEO of Talbots.

Talbots has seen little success in its bid to shed a stodgy image and attract a younger clientele. Now it's back to focusing on its core customers and the move seems to be paying off.