The New Talbots

Hello all you blogger fans. I am here to talk about what I have experienced at Talbots this summer. For the past three years I have been a sales representative for the company. In the very beginning I felt Talbots should change their marketing strategies and cater their designs toward a younger image. However, this year Talbots has been making some major changes. And I have been very impressed with all of the new promotions and marketing strategies. These changes are everything I wanted for the company and I am so very happy.

Talbots is considered a clothing store for women who are 35 and older. However the body of a 35 year old woman is completely different than a 65 year old.

Women want to look young and beautiful. It is not typical that a 35 year old woman wants to buy the same outfit their mothers.

Talbots is known for their classic and structured clothing. Items are priced from $26-$180 depending on the merchandise.

During the fall of 2007, Talbots hired a new CEO Trudy F. Sullivan. Her brilliant experience as former president of Liz Claiborne Inc. and leadership role with J. Crew Inc. has been able to help Talbots significantly. She has been making all of the right sudden changes at the right time. When I walk into Talbots, I feel like it is a whole new store. From the product design side of fashion to the visual merchandising/advertising everything is changing for the better. The new image feels like an Older J. Crew.

There is a list of the changes that have been happening in our store.

1) Greeter- Talbots never had an official greeter until this year. There was always an employee that would talk to each customer that would walk into the store. This would benefit the company’s revenues by the end of the day. The greeter would talk about the promotions and make everyone feel welcome. It is the most important job because that is the first impression each customer has. Also by having a greeter at the front door would limit theft.

2) Phone calls- Talbots also called customers to let them know about the current promotions. This only happened once every 6 weeks or so. It would help bring customers into the store and spend more money.

3) The Catalogue- Talbots has changed the whole look of the catalogue. This is still in the current happening. And Talbots is not only selling their clothing with flowers in the back ground, but also selling the classic and luxurious lifestyle. Models are shown driving nice cars and playing preppy sports such as tennis, swimming, being on the beach, and golf. Also in the formal section- they created an atmosphere like Vogue. (this has helped the catalogue sales and brought in younger women to shop) The women in the magazine are younger than before and look happy, healthy, fun, and flirty.

4) Promotions such as coupons and double points when you use a Talbot’s credit card. (For every dolor that you spend at Talbots, it equals 1 point. If the points add up of 500 then the customer will receive a $25 dividend in the mail.

5) Change designers- I believe that the designers have changed at Talbots. Everything looks very preppy. The color choices for the clothing are bright, fun, yet very modern. They also developed a variety of jeans for women and accessories such as head bands and funky jewelry. There are more oxford and polo shirts than ever before. This is a smart choice because those are classic pieces that you can wear with almost anything (jeans, skirt, shorts, vest, sweater, ect.)

6) Visual Merchandising- Talbots has also decided to change the layout of their stores overnight every 3 weeks. This makes the store exciting and the merchandise never gets old for the customers. Things are clean and certain sections of the store will have designated spots for merchandise. (ex. Formal clothing in one section, shoes in another- rather than all over the place) Also the corporate office has sent visual posters to hang in the windows. The window displays are very different at Talbots because they used to only use mannequins. Now they have a large variety of props. (Oh- and the music in the store has changed to a more up bet style).

7) Online- They have been able to create a new introduction to the home page. There are more visual pictures and I can tell it is still in progress. However it is getting a whole lot better. They are not just creating

Things to keep in mind:

Because Talbots re-imaging their company, I just want you to know that there has been talk about the return policy. Talbots has always taken returns. It used to never matter how old the merchandise was, customers could take it back. However, there have been several customers that have abused the policy so I think Talbots is going to change it to a 60 day only return policy. This will surely help the company not lose any money. Also, stores will receive smaller shipments with maybe only one size in a small, medium, and large instead of three of the same size. This will allow the customers to feel like they are buying something very special and unique. Not just something everyone else owns. Also by the end of the year, Talbots will be no longer carry the men and children’s line.

I strongly believe Talbots will be able to increase their sales and keep up with the competition in the retailing world. This year will be a whole lot better. They are making very positive changes and able to bring in new customers with everything. I can already tell the customers who are coming into the store are younger than usual. Most of the newer faces seem to come out of the beginning stages of the working world looking for a classic style.