Let's play a round of John Moore's Would you miss... game. Unfortunately, this one's not hypothetical. Clothing retailer Talbots (NYSE: TLB) announced today that they're closing their Kids and Mens stores. They've looked at the numbers and talked with the financial analysts. I wonder if they asked customers? My family, for one, is going to miss them when they're gone.
Talbots Mens was an interesting idea that I wanted to like, and it's convenient to browse while my wife is in the women's store. I like some of the clothing, but too often, it worked better on the hanger than on me. So I'll miss the Men's store, but not that much.
Talbots Kids, though, is a real loss. They've been a consistent supplier since before my son could sit up—those sweats were so *cute* (and comfy)! Now he's just about to move from the little boys to the boys section, and we're not ready to give up our best source.
It's easy to summarize why we like TK's clothing:
- It's attractive. Cute on the little kids, appropriately good-looking in the larger sizes. Makes me want them in the big sizes.
- It's comfortable. Makes him that much more huggable—not that he needs any help. :-)
- It's durable. Especially when he was a baby, everything looked and felt almost new when he outgrew it.
- It's well-made, or so it seems to me.
I don't know if Talbots management looked up from their spreadsheets to talk with customers, but I wish they would. They can close the Mens store without affecting me, but if they close Kids, we won't be in the adjacent women's store so much, either. And we're going to have a tougher task at back-to-school time.
The stock market didn't like the announcement, either. Want to reconsider?
(Photo from Talbots.com.)
Update: I sent a note mentioning this post to Talbots PR. I got a personal note back from a Senior Manager in Corporate Customer Service, incorporating some approved language about the closures but avoiding the feel of a form letter. It doesn't change anything, but give 'em credit for responding to me personally.
Meanwhile, the first box of clothing in the next two sizes showed up today.
Tags: wouldyoumiss Talbots
Nathan ... while I'm not a fashion maven, I am aware of the fashion retail scene. I had no idea Talbot's sold a Mens line. So I wouldn't miss something I never knew I could miss.
Thanks for the blog nod. Great headline for this post.
John, I like your work, and I almost jumped in on "Would you miss the Cheescake Factory?" (I would, but only a little). I'm happy to connect.
I wrote a little note to Talbots PR (it'll be interesting to see if they respond). As I was writing it, I realized how we plan shopping trips around which mall has a TK store. With the Kids stores gone, we're less likely to go to the women's stores, since the Kids stores brought us to malls that are otherwise not our first choice.
I liked the Mens store a lot more before it opened. Fantasy vs. reality. :-)
Hi Nathan - I think customers already voted with their dollars. From the Boston Globe article I read, the kids business hasn't been profitable for 17 years...enough time for a kid to be born and go away to college!
My first reaction is that those are the votes of non-customers. Have they talked to the people who do spend their money in their stores? How many Misses customers will they lose when the Kids draw is gone? A lot of those "core" women over 35 are moms. Is this a "shrink your way to greatness" strategy?
Do you have a link for the never profitable comment? I see the reference to losing $15 million, but it doesn't mention historical figures. And I'd be really interested to see the breakout between Kids and Mens. In my experience, at least, the Kids store works much better than the Mens store.
Plus, there was a fair amount of commentary about how challenging the women's clothing environment is this year. Not much discussion of the market for men's and children's clothing, in an article about the closing of men's and children's clothing stores.
Or, let's go back to John's game and put it this way: We will really miss Talbots Kids. We don't have another store that consistently meets our needs the way they do. I, on the other hand, can always go to Brooks Brothers (among others) to get everything that Talbots Mens sells, and the fit is usually better, too.
I, too, will greatly miss Talbots Kids.
I have been purchasing most of my granddaughter's wardrobe for the past two years (she is now 3), and 75% of it came form Talbots Kids. The clothes are darling, well-made, easy to coordinate pieces, and convenient to shop for (being in the same store as women's clothing). I STILL miss Talbots Intimates, and I know I'll be missing Talbots Kids just as much, if not more, in the years to come.