The first shop, located in
Hingham, Massachusetts, 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 magazine. In 1973, they sold the company, consisting of a growing catalog enterprise and five stores, to
General Mills. 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 in 1993 and was traded on the
New York Stock Exchange under the symbol TLB. The New York City-based private equity firm
Sycamore Partners acquired Talbots in August 2012 for $391 million (including debt). == References ==