Talbots

Golden Gate Capital Corp., a private equity firm, agreed to sell a majority stake in the J. Jill clothing business to Arcapita Bank BSC, a Bahrain-based investment bank, less than two years after buying the company.

We know Talbots is going to a new image, but we're not sure this is the best way to go about it. The brand's Eyelet Cover-up can apparently be worn not only after a swim, but after a haphazard Photoshop job.

Women's clothing chain Talbots said that a key executive, chief stores officer John Fiske, is leaving the company, which is struggling to turn itself around.

VibrantNation.com is the leading online community for baby boomer women, a site where they connect on issues unique to their stage of life. After more than two years of asking them to explain what that lifestage means, I can report one nearly uniform emotion they all share: they hate shopping in retail stores.

Talbots will use the Oracle Retail Planning and Optimization suite of applications to help identify customer preferences and localize its merchandise offerings based on buying patterns, size profiles and other key attributes.

Talbots said it returned to profitability in the second quarter, but sales fell because the company kept the line on prices to a large degree. While the recession has made it common to deeply discount, "We did not react to what became a very aggressive promotional environment," Chief Executive Trudy Sullivan said. Instead, Talbots went after margin growth — or getting the most return on the dollars it did take in — and continued to balance cost cutting with rebuilding efforts.

After spending last year atop the retail death-watch list, Talbots Inc. is now a favorite on Wall Street, thanks to cost cuts and a complex financial arrangement for unloading its enormous debt. But to solidify its comeback and boost sales, Talbots must complete a merchandise and image overhaul aimed at attracting younger customers. And that's a tall order for a brand that many women think of as perfect for their grandmothers.

Promotions are an important part of every marketer's email strategy - sales, discounts, discounts with purchases, gifts with purchases, free shipping, etc. These workhorse communications shouldn't be overlooked. They work well to motivate buyers to take actions, but they're not showstoppers. They won't make you stand out from the pack.

Mobile Discounts Drive Retail Traffic for Container Store; Talbots’ Fall Catalog Back to Prospecting; Crazy 8 is Going Coupon Crazy

Problem: Weaver's Flooring America, a franchise location of retailer Flooring America, sought a more detailed and optimized marketing mix to reconnect with its local customer base. Solution: Outsourced its store and direct marketing planning to a local marketing automation technology and services provider. Results: Gained boost in sales and cost savings from lowered marketing complexity.