Hingham, MA, June 29, 2007 — The Talbots, Inc. (NYSE: TLB) today announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Trudy F. Sullivan as the Company’s President and Chief Executive Officer, effective August 6, 2007. Ms. Sullivan will also become a member of Talbots Board of Directors.
Ms. Sullivan, 57, will lead Talbots with 35 years of retail and merchandising experience and a strong knowledge of the specialty retail sector from former leadership roles at both Liz Claiborne, Inc. and J. Crew Group, Inc. As the former President of Liz Claiborne, Inc., Ms. Sullivan was responsible for building and leading multiple apparel and non-apparel men’s and women’s brands. Her extensive merchandising career began in Boston, where she started as a Buyer for Jordan Marsh and then Filene’s.
Ms. Sullivan will succeed Arnold B. Zetcher, who previously announced his intention to retire after 20 years with the Company and will remain Chairman of the Board through March 31, 2008.
Commenting on the announcement, Mr. Zetcher said, “Trudy is the perfect person to build on Talbots legacy as the retail destination for the 35+ customer. She’s a highly experienced and well-respected retail executive, and we are fortunate to have attracted someone of her caliber to maximize the Company’s significant growth potential and further develop both the Talbots and J. Jill brands. I look forward to working closely with Trudy to ensure a seamless transition.”
“We are extremely pleased to welcome Trudy to the Company, and believe she is the ideal leader to continue the efforts begun under Arnold Zetcher and the management team to successfully grow Talbots through its multiple retail channels,” said Gary M. Pfeiffer, chairman of Talbots special search committee and presiding director.
“I am excited to join Talbots, as I’ve held a longstanding respect for the brand, both as a loyal customer and a retail executive,” said Ms. Sullivan. “Under Arnold Zetcher’s leadership, Talbots has become one of the country’s best known retail names, with two highly regarded brands serving the 35+ market. And I look forward to the tremendous opportunity to build on this substantial foundation.”
Ms. Sullivan has a B.A. from Manhattanville College, Purchase NY, and completed graduate studies in business at Simmons College in Boston. She currently resides in New York, NY with her husband Michael, and daughters, Catherine and Anne, and plans to relocate to the Boston area.
Today’s appointment is part of the Company’s previously announced succession plan. In February 2007, Talbots Board of Directors appointed a special search committee, which was chaired by Gary M. Pfeiffer, presiding director and chairman of the Board’s Compensation Committee, and included Mr. Zetcher and Mr. Motoya Okada, President and Chief Executive Officer of AEON Co., Ltd., majority shareholder of Talbots. Heidrick & Struggles was retained to assist the special search committee and was supported by Korn Ferry International.
The Talbots, Inc. is a leading international specialty retailer and a cataloger of women’s, children’s and men’s apparel, shoes and accessories. The Company currently operates a total of 1,387 stores, in 47 states, the District of Columbia, Canada and the U.K., with 1,135 stores under the Talbots brand name and 252 stores under the J. Jill brand name. Both brands target the age 35 plus customer population. Talbots brand on-line shopping site is located at www.talbots.com and the J. Jill brand on-line shopping site is located at www.jjill.com.
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The foregoing contains forward-looking information within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements may be identified by such forward-looking terminology as "expect," "look," "believe," "anticipate," "outlook," "will," "would," "target," "would yield," or similar statements or variations of such terms. All of the "outlook" information (including expected future revenue impact, expected future operational benefits, expected exit expenses, future comparable sales, future earnings, future EPS, and other future financial performance or operating measures) constitutes forward-looking information.
Our outlook and other forward-looking statements are based on a series of expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections about our Company which involve substantial risks and uncertainty, including assumptions and projections concerning exit costs and timing, outcome of negotiations with landlords and other third parties, exit plan inventory levels, valuations and sales, store traffic, levels of store sales, ,and our internal plan and budget for regular-price selling and markdown selling for the indicated forward periods. All of our outlook information and other forward-looking statements are as of the date of this release only. The Company can give no assurance that such outlook or expectations will prove to be correct and does not undertake or plan to update or revise any "outlook" information or any other forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, changes in assumptions, estimates or projections, or other circumstances occurring after the date of this release, even if such results, changes or circumstances make it clear that any forward-looking information will not be realized.
Any public statements or disclosures by us following this release which modify or impact any of the outlook or other forward-looking statements contained in or accompanying this release will be deemed to modify or supersede such outlook or statements in or accompanying this release.
Our forward-looking statements involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties as to future events which may or may not occur, including whether our recently announced strategic review of our operations and any significant changes which may result from or in connection with such process will favorably impact our productivity and profitability in the short-term or long-term and the timing of any such matters, the risk that operational benefits expected to be realized from our exit plans will not be achieved or may take longer to achieve than expected, acceptance of the Company's fashions including its seasonal fashions, effectiveness of the Company's brand awareness and marketing programs and new promotional cadence strategy, and any different or any increased negative trends in its regular-price or markdown selling, retail economic conditions including consumer spending trends, the current housing issues and uncertainty in the financial and credit markets, success of our expected marketing events in driving store traffic and store and direct marketing sales, success of our catalogs in driving both our direct marketing sales and in driving store traffic, the Company's ability to anticipate and successfully respond to constantly changing customer tastes and preferences and to produce the appropriate balance of merchandise offerings, the Company's ability to sell its merchandise at regular prices as well as its ability to successfully execute its sale events including the timing and levels of markdowns and appropriate balance of available markdown inventory, our ability to accurately estimate and forecast future full-price and markdown selling for each of our brands, the success of our current executive-level searches, the risk that the J. Jill business will not be successfully integrated, the risk that the cost savings, operational efficiencies, and other synergies from J. Jill acquisition may not be fully realized or may take longer to realize than expected, the risk associated with integrating and operating profitably and successfully as a multi-brand chain for the first time and the reaction of Talbots and J. Jill customers and suppliers to the changes being made within the organization. In each case, actual results may differ materially from such forward-looking information.
Certain other factors that may cause actual results to differ from such forward-looking statements are included in the Company's periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and available on the Talbots website under "Investor Relations" and you are urged to carefully consider all such factors.
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CONTACT:
Julie Lorigan
Vice President, Investor Relations
(781) 741-7775
Stacy Berns/Melissa Jaffin – Investor/Media Relations
Berns Communications Group
(212) 994-4660