Talbots Unveils Updated Store Design

The Talbots Inc. (Hingham, Mass.) has opened a new design concept store at the Westfield Garden State Plaza in Paramus, N.J. The retailer said the 5,500 square-foot store features an upscale residential feel, five individual rooms for different merchandise stories and other elements reflecting Talbots’ “Tradition Transformed” brand initiative.

Talbots chief creative officer Michael Smaldone collaborated with Robin Kramer at Kramer Design Group (New York) on the space. The updated design includes a new color palette, a more luxurious fitting room environment, area rugs, marble nesters, ceramic tiles, étagères, brass-rimmed windows and a brass door.

The company said key features in store design, fixtures and merchandise presentation at the Paramus locale are being evaluated for potential rollout to existing stores, in support of the company’s overall store reimaging program.

“The opening of this design concept store is a significant step in continuing to push the Talbots brand forward and offering a premium customer experience across all of our channels,” Smaldone said. “This unique store brings the highest standard of our ‘Tradition Transformed’ platform to our customers and allows us to engage with her through a memorable and more personalized shopping experience that we modeled after a woman’s dream closet. We are delighted with the positive feedback we have received about the store from our customers since the opening.”

Talbots is a specialty retailer and direct marketer of women’s apparel, shoes and accessories. It currently operates 568 Talbots stores in the U.S. and Canada.