The Talbots, Inc., doing business as Talbots and stylized as TALBOTS, is an American specialty retailer and direct marketer of women's clothing, shoes and fashion accessories. As of 2018, the company operated 495 Talbots stores in the United States: 425 core Talbots stores (412 U.S), 65 Talbots Factory Outlets (U.S.) and five Talbots Clearance stores (4 US).

History

The first shop, located in

Hingham, Massachusetts Hingham ( ) is a town in northern Plymouth County, Massachusetts, Plymouth County in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. Part of the Greater Boston region, it is located on the South Shore (Massachusetts), South Shore of Massachusetts. At the 2020 ...

, was opened in 1947 by Rudolf and Nancy Talbot. In 1948, the Talbots launched a direct mail business by distributing 3,000 fliers to names obtained from ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'' magazine. In 1973, they sold the company, consisting of a growing catalog enterprise and five stores, to

General Mills General Mills, Inc. is an American multinational corporation, multinational manufacturer and marketer of branded ultra-processed consumer foods sold through retail stores. Founded on the banks of the Mississippi River at Saint Anthony Falls in ...

. The chain was expanded along the U.S. east coast. When General Mills divested its Specialty Retail Division in 1988, Talbots was acquired by JUSCO Co. Ltd. (now ÆON Co., Ltd.). Talbots became a

public company A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of share capital, stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter (finance), over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) co ...

in 1993 and was traded on the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...

under the symbol TLB. The New York City-based private equity firm

Sycamore Partners Sycamore Partners is an American private equity firm based in New York specializing in retail and consumer investments. The firm has approximately $10 billion in aggregate committed capital. History Founding Sycamore Partners was founded in 2 ...

acquired Talbots in August 2012 for $391 million (including debt)."The Talbots, Inc. Company Profile"
''

Hoover's D&B Hoovers was founded by Gary Hoover and Patrick Spain in 1990 as an American business research company that provided information on companies and industries through their primary product platform named "Hoover's". In 2003, it was acquired b ...

References

External links

{{authority control Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange Privately held companies based in Massachusetts American companies established in 1947 Clothing companies established in 1947 Retail companies established in 1947 2012 mergers and acquisitions Clothing retailers of the United States 1947 establishments in Massachusetts Private equity portfolio companies Companies based in Plymouth County, Massachusetts Hingham, Massachusetts 1993 initial public offerings