The Talbots Inc. Names New President of J. Jill Brand

The Talbots, Inc. (NYSE: TLB) today announced that it has appointed Paula Bennett, 58, as the new President of the J. Jill brand. In this role, Ms. Bennett will be responsible for the growth and profitability of the brand, including merchandising, marketing, direct marketing, stores, as well as store visual and design. Ms. Bennett will report directly to Trudy F. Sullivan, Talbots, President and Chief Executive Officer. Ms. Bennett, a 35-year retail veteran, brings extensive expertise in merchandising, buying, sourcing and product development across both retail and direct marketing channels. She joins the company with a deep understanding of the age 35 plus female consumer, particularly from her career at Eileen Fisher, Inc., where she served as Chief Operating Officer. Ms. Bennett is currently with Orchard Brands as President and Chief Executive Officer of Appleseed’s, Tog Shop and WinterSilks brands, and has held leadership positions at Tiffany & Co., Federated Department Stores/Bloomingdales and Calvin Klein. She will begin her new role as President of the J. Jill Brand effective January 28, 2008, and will replace Phil Kowalczyk, who was recently appointed Chief Operating Officer of The Talbots, Inc. Trudy F. Sullivan, The Talbots, Inc. President and Chief Executive Officer commented, "Paula brings an intimate understanding and strong track record of serving our core customer, particularly from her eight years at Eileen Fisher, where she led the successful multi-channel expansion of the brand, tripling sales and significantly improving profitability. We are thrilled to welcome Paula to this extremely important position, as she has the merchandising, brand and operational expertise needed to drive the direction and growth of the J. Jill brand.” Ms. Sullivan continued, "This appointment represents another significant step for the Company, as we have nearly completed our key initiative to bring in the right talent to revitalize and reposition our brands for future profitable growth.” The Talbots, Inc. is a leading international specialty retailer and direct marketer of women’s apparel, shoes and accessories. The Company currently operates a total of 1,428 stores in 47 states, the District of Columbia, Canada and the U.K., with 1,157 stores under the Talbots brand name and 271 stores under the J. Jill brand name. Both brands target the age 35 plus customer population. Talbots brand on-line shopping site is located at www.talbots.com and the J. Jill brand on-line shopping site is located at www.jjill.com. The foregoing contains forward-looking information within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements may be identified by such forward-looking terminology as "expect," "look," "believe," "anticipate," "outlook," "will," "would," "target," "would yield," or similar statements or variations of such terms. All of the "outlook" information (including expected future revenue impact, expected future operational benefits, expected exit expenses, future comparable sales, future earnings, future EPS, and other future financial performance or operating measures) constitutes forward-looking information. Our outlook and other forward-looking statements are based on a series of expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections about our Company which involve substantial risks and uncertainty, including assumptions and projections concerning exit costs and timing, outcome of negotiations with landlords and other third parties, exit plan inventory levels, valuations and sales, store traffic, levels of store sales, ,and our internal plan and budget for regular-price selling and markdown selling for the indicated forward periods. All of our outlook information and other forward-looking statements are as of the date of this release only. The Company can give no assurance that such outlook or expectations will prove to be correct and does not undertake or plan to update or revise any "outlook" information or any other forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, changes in assumptions, estimates or projections, or other circumstances occurring after the date of this release, even if such results, changes or circumstances make it clear that any forward-looking information will not be realized. Any public statements or disclosures by us following this release which modify or impact any of the outlook or other forward-looking statements contained in or accompanying this release will be deemed to modify or supersede such outlook or statements in or accompanying this release. Our forward-looking statements involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties as to future events which may or may not occur, including whether our recently announced strategic review of our operations and any significant changes which may result from or in connection with such process will favorably impact our productivity and profitability in the short-term or long-term and the timing of any such matters, the risk that operational benefits expected to be realized from our exit plans will not be achieved or may take longer to achieve than expected, acceptance of the Company's fashions including its seasonal fashions, effectiveness of the Company's brand awareness and marketing programs and new promotional cadence strategy, and any different or any increased negative trends in its regular-price or markdown selling, retail economic conditions including consumer spending trends, the current housing issues and uncertainty in the financial and credit markets, success of our expected marketing events in driving store traffic and store and direct marketing sales, success of our catalogs in driving both our direct marketing sales and in driving store traffic, the Company's ability to anticipate and successfully respond to constantly changing customer tastes and preferences and to produce the 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 sale events including the timing and levels of markdowns and appropriate balance of available markdown inventory, our ability to accurately estimate and forecast future full-price and markdown selling for each of our brands, the success of our current executive-level searches, the risk that the J. Jill business will not be successfully integrated, the risk that the cost savings, operational efficiencies, and other synergies from J. Jill acquisition may not be fully realized or may take longer to realize than expected, the risk associated with integrating and operating profitably and successfully as a multi-brand chain for the first time and the reaction of Talbots and J. Jill customers and suppliers to the changes being made within the organization. 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 periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and available on the Talbots website under "Investor Relations" and you are urged to carefully consider all such factors.