Talbots Inc., which paid $517 million for the J. Jill chain ofapparel stores during 2006, has agreed to sell the chain for $75million to Jill Acquisition LLC, an affiliate of Golden GateCapital, a San Francisco-based private investment group.
The new owners purchased 204 of the 279 locations and agreed toretain J. Jill's current management. The remaining 75 stores will beretained by Talbots and are expected to close within the next twomonths.
J. Jill operates one store in Colorado Springs at the PromenadeShops at Briargate. The store will remain open, according to astatement from Maria David, manager of investor and media relationsfor Talbots.
Talbots declined to release sales details for individual storesand didn't say what criteria was used to determine which storeswould be part of the deal, but news of the continued operation of J.Jill locally pleased Promenade Shops at Briargate General ManagerJennifer Crowley.
'The management is ecstatic that our J. Jill store is not part ofthe 75 locations that will be closing,' she said. 'J. Jill has beenhere since opening in August 2003 and has a very loyal customerbase. We are glad they'll remain within The Promenade Shops atBriargate ... we are like family here and happy to know the J.Jill's staff is OK.'
May retail sales climb slightly
Following two straight months of sales declines, retail salesnationwide rose during May, according to the Commerce Department.The good news for retailers was tempered, however, because most ofthe increase was attributed to higher gasoline prices.
Not including gasoline stations and auto sales, which rose 0.5percent, core retail sales climbed 0.1 percent compared to April. Consumer spending accounts for two-thirds of all economic activity,so economists and investors look to the statistic as a key economicindicator.
Electronics, furniture, sporting goods and department storesexperienced marginal sales declines, but apparel (0.4 percent) andbuilding/garden material store sales (1.3 percent) jumped higher.
The May figures represented an 11.1 percent drop compared to May2008, but comparing this year's sales to 2008 yields a deceptiveconclusion, according to the National Retail Federation.
NRF Chief Economist Rosalind Wells said that consumers benefittedfrom federal economic stimulus payments last year, and don't havethat extra cushion of money to work with this year.
Men's Wearhouse purchase
Men's Wearhouse won an auction for Filene's Basement, paying $67million for the bankrupt East Coast bargain retailer.
Houston-based Men's Wearhouse beat competitors for 17 to 20 ofFilene's 25 stores, a Burlington, Mass., headquarters building, awarehouse and the lease to a closed flagship property in Boston.
Men's Wearhouse operates three stores in Colorado Springs.
Scott Prater covers retail for the Colorado Springs BusinessJournal.
