Talbots Talks Catalog Circ Amid Rough Second Quarter
The Talbots, Inc. generated second-quarter sales from continuing operations of $304.6 million, compared with $395.2 million during second quarter 2008. The apparel marketer recorded a net loss of $24.5 million during its most recent quarter, compared with a net loss of just under $25 million a year ago.
During the second quarter Talbots sold its J. Jill operations to Jill Acquisition LLC, an affiliate of equity investment firm Golden Gate Capital. The quarter ended Aug. 1.
Retail store sales during the quarter were $264.8 million, compared with $334.2 million a year ago. Direct sales, including catalog and Internet operations, were $49.8 million, down from $60.9 million.
During an earnings conference call Talbots president and CEO Trudy F. Sullivan said “we very effectively used our direct channel to actually drive customers into the stores. We were very pleased with the connectivity between our efforts in direct and stores.”
Sullivan added that its August catalog, as well as its September mailing (the largest book of the season), were performing well. She also noted that the company did a small re-launch of its Web site, and that Internet sales made up roughly 75% of its direct sales, compared with 69% a year ago.
The Hair-Splitter’s Take: According to president and CEO Trudy F. Sullivan, the company’s second-quarter catalog circulation was down around 25%, and third-quarter circulation will drop by a similar amount. “But what’s really happening is we are prospecting,” Sullivan said. Well, reactivating, at any rate. What Sullivan calls prospecting is actually targeting lapsed customers from the company’s 12- to 18-month lapsed buyer file, as she described it during an earnings call. “A year ago, we had gone as deep as 24 months,” she said. “The results in the 12- to 18-month were two times better than the deeper file, so we have prioritized our spend there.” Is this a hair split? Not really, if one believes that marketers should talked to lapsed customers differently than one does raw prospects.
