Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, October 23, 1993                   TAG: 9310250332
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

TALBOTS' FAMOUS RED DOOR GOING TO OPEN IN ROANOKE

The shop, featuring the company's classic clothing styles, will be in The Forum, a new strip shopping center on Starkey Road, just off Virginia 419.

Talbots' 4,175-square-foot store is the first of several buildings planned at the center being built by Maury Strauss, a developer. Strauss said he anticipated a mix of office and retail tenants for the center, which is near the Roanoke Athletic Club.

Talbots initially announced in April 1992 that it would operate at Towers Shopping Center. Because of development problems at that center, the company switched to the Strauss property.

The Hingham, Mass.-based retailer, which has 300 stores worldwide, said it was attracted to Roanoke because it already had many catalog customers in the area, but did not give a specific number.

Talbots stores, which in Virginia include Charlottesville, Richmond and McLean, grew out of one store opened in 1947 in a Boston suburb. It began the catalog operation in 1948.

At McLean's Tysons Corner shopping center, the company operates a superstore that includes its two of its new speciality units, Talbots Petites and Talbots Kids, as well as a standard Talbots women's store.

The company stocks sizes ranging from petite 2 to misses 18 and 20. A typical price is $176 for a single-breasted wool flannel jacket and $58 for a cotton oxford shirt. Currently 95 percent of its merchandise has its private label.

Since 1988, the company has been part of AEON Group, a Tokyo-based retailing company. AEON bought Talbots from General Mills Inc., which acquired it in 1973.

The company reported $641.8 million in net sales in 1992, up 23 percent over 1991. Of that amount, 77 percent, or $495 million, was from retail and $146.9 million was from the catalog.

Since 1988, the company has reduced the number of catalogs it mails, from 70.5 million to 60.7 million last year.

In the process, it targeted its circulation on its most likely buyers and increased sales per catalog from $1.89 in 1988 to $2.42 last year, the company said.

The stores, in the U.S., Canada and Japan, follow the signature style of their inventory, following a home-like decor with antiques, behind a red-door entry.

Talbots stores reported average sales of $539 a square foot in the year that ended Jan. 30. That means the Roanoke store would have gross sales of $2.3 million a year if it follows company trends.

Clothing displayed in the store is the same as featured in the Talbots catalogs, meaning customers who doesn't find their size or color on display can order it at the store. In that way, the stores and the catalogs complement each other, said Betsy Thompson, the company's spokeswoman.

Talbots traditionally sponsors charity benefits as part of its openings. The preview event in Roanoke will raise money for Opera Roanoke and begins at 6 p.m. Thursday.

Persons attending are encouraged to give a $10 donation at the door.

The store opens to the public on Friday.

\ THE TALBOTS CUSTOMER\ HOW TALBOTS DEFINES ITS TYPICAL CUSTOMER\ \ She is well-educated, active in community and socially and culturally aware.

\ More than 60 percent are employed in managerial or professional jobs.

\ Sixty-five percent hold college degrees.

\ Customers generally range in age from 25 to 65, with a medium age of late-30s to early-40s.

\ She's likely to be a mother or grandmother: the company's fastest-growing unit is Talbots Kids, which sells clothing for boys and girls, up to size 14.