Q) Discuss the store operations and SCM of Talbots?

Ans: during the 1990s Talbots continued to add new stores to strengthen its
customer base. By 2000 it had 673 stores in 45 states Canada and UK. Stores
concepts included Talbots petite, misses store, kids store and accessories store.
Talbot offered women complete wardrobe dressing experience for all occasions.
The staff in their stores was knowledgeable and experienced unlike other
departmental store and helped the customer by assisting them in selecting the
garments that they need.
Tablot misses store offered range of styles in career and casual clothing where
each style was composed of 2-4 garments in 3-6 colour combinations. There
were around 363 stores averaging 5000 sq ft and carried misses sizes and petite
assortment. They were located in freestanding locations and downtown shopping
areas. Talbot petite targeted women shorter than 54 and 400-500 assortment
was an edited assortment of misses store. There were 140 stores averaging 2500
sq ft. Talbot kids offered high quality durable clothing to infant and up to 14
years old children. These stores averaged 3100 sq ft and there were around 57
stores.
Talbots accessories and shoes were around 1900 sq ft nad had 33 stores and also
included belts, scarves, purses and other accessories. Talbot woman was a new
concept where they had initially 5 stores serving women sized 12W-24W.
The store was distinguished by the signature red door created for each of its
store brands. The interior was such that it gave a residential feel and was used
consistently to promote familiarity, ease of shopping for customers and cost
savings. Kids store were designed to have a light atmosphere and the store was
allocated inventory based on their size and selling history. It positioned itself as a
limited promotion retailer offering four sale events annually. For most stores it
leased the store locations. Stores were usually managed by a store manager and
2 assistant managers. Store manager reported to district managers responsible
for 8-10 stores. The district manager was responsible for sales, operating costs
etc. district managers reported to 8 regional directors and the regional directors
reported to 3 territorial directors.
SCM
After the product development group presented its idea the buying group was
responsible for quantifying the specific merchandise and departmental needs
and plans. Then the sourcing staff used these plans to place specific item orders
on styles developed in conjunction with the product development office and
other vendors. Talbot purchased half of its merchandise from offshore vendors
located in Hong kong, Jakarta and rest from US and Europe. Talbot hong kong
office handled 67% offshore sourcing while agents did the rest 33%. Independent
foreign factories located in Hong kong and other Asian countries manufactured
directly sourced merchandise and all these were placed order by order basis so
they didnt had any contractual agreement to purchase from them. The Lakeville
distribution centre received, processed and distributed all merchandise for

Talbots catalogues and stores. The merchandise received was inspected,

assigned to individual stores, packed for delivery and shipped to stores with each
store receiving merchandise twice a week.