Talbots Announces First-Ever Talbots Mens Retail Locations; Three New Talbots Mens Stores Set to Open in April 2003

Business Wire, Nov 19, 2002

Business Editors

HINGHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 19, 2002

The Talbots, Inc. (NYSE: TLB) today announced that it has finalized the locations of its first-ever Talbots Mens stores. Expected to open in April 2003, the Talbots Mens stores will be located in a village site on Main Street in Westport, Connecticut; in the Columbus area at Worthington Square, a specialty center in Worthington, Ohio; and in the Philadelphia area at The Court, a regional mall in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.

Commented Arnold B. Zetcher, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, "We are tremendously excited to begin the next phase of our Talbots Mens launch, following our introduction of the concept last month in a 24-page catalog. The Talbots Mens stores will enable us to provide our customers with a more comprehensive range of merchandise. Further, we already have highly successful Talbots Misses stores at each of these three locations, and placing our Talbots Mens stores there will allow us to test different store formats and fine-tune the concept. We also expect to come back in the fall with three more new stores, for a total of six Talbots Mens stores in 2003, as well as open additional stores in 2004."*

"While it is still early, the initial response to Talbots Mens has been quite positive. We are currently researching customer feedback on our Talbots Mens catalog offering, including conducting a survey with our first customers. Our goal over the next couple of years is to learn as much as we can about this new business before we begin a more aggressive rollout, which is currently expected to begin in 2005,"* Mr. Zetcher continued.

"We are looking forward to taking this next step in the development of our Talbots Mens business and believe that this concept has significant potential for growth over the long-term,"* Mr. Zetcher concluded.

The Talbots Mens stores are currently planned to be approximately 4,000 gross square feet, with approximately 3,300 selling square feet. The store design will be masculine, yet complementary to, the Company's Misses stores. Design elements will include natural mahogany woods,

polished slate and granite tile, and stained wood front doors with glass center panels, versus the signature red doors for which Talbots is known. One particularly special feature is a seating area that is separate from the selling floor and adjacent to the fitting rooms, where someone may wait and view the merchandise being tried on by a Talbots Mens customer.

Talbots Mens will have its own logo and its own packaging, including bags, boxes, ribbons and tissue. All elements will feature gray-on-gray colors versus Talbots signature red and black.

The Talbots Mens concept offers sophisticated classic style, outstanding quality and reasonable pricing in a high service level environment. The line is distinguished by superior fabrications, great fit and comfort, impeccable tailoring and a balance of basic and classic fashion colors. The assortment is appropriate for business casual environments as well as weekend activities; it includes sport coats, dress trousers, dress shirts, sweaters, casual pants, jeans and sport shirts as well as a selection of outerwear and ties. Currently, Talbots Mens does not offer suits or shoes.

Talbots Mens was launched the week of October 7, 2002, in a 24-page catalog with a circulation of 750,000.

Talbots is a leading national specialty retailer and cataloger of women's classic apparel, shoes and accessories. The Company operates 882 stores - 464 Talbots Misses stores, including 19 Talbots Misses stores in Canada and five Talbots Misses stores in the United Kingdom; 233 Talbots Petites stores, including two Talbots Petites stores in Canada; 41 Talbots Accessories & Shoes stores; 63 Talbots Kids stores; 56 Woman stores; and 25 Talbots Outlet stores, including one in Canada and one in the United Kingdom. Its catalog operation currently expects to circulate approximately 50 million catalogs worldwide in fiscal 2002. Talbots on-line shopping site is located at www.talbots.com.

The foregoing contains forward-looking information within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The statements may be identified by an "asterisk" ("*") or such forward-looking terminology as "expect," "look," "believe," "anticipate," "may," "will," or similar statements or variations of such terms. All of the "outlook" information constitutes forward-looking information. The specialty apparel retail business is an evolving and highly competitive marketplace and such forward-looking statements may involve material known and unknown risks and uncertainties as to future events which may or may not occur, including levels of sales, effectiveness of the Company's brand awareness and marketing programs, effectiveness and profitability of new concepts, effectiveness of its e-commerce site, store traffic, acceptance of Talbots fashions, 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 major sale events including the timing and levels of markdowns, retail economic conditions including consumer spending, consumer confidence, a highly uncertain economy and a volatile stock market, the impact of the current West Coast ports labor dispute, the impact of possible hostilities in the Middle East, and the impact of a highly promotional retail environment. 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 Current Report on Form 8-K dated October 30, 1996 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (a copy of which may also be obtained from the Company at 781-741-4500) as well as other periodic reports filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission and you are urged to consider such factors. In light of the uncertainty inherent in such forward-looking statements, you should not consider their inclusion to be a representation that such forward-looking matters will be achieved. The Company assumes no obligation for updating any such forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting such forward-looking statements.