Nancy Talbot (August 17, 1920 – August 30, 2009) was an American businesswoman who co-founded the

Talbots The Talbots, Inc., doing business as Talbots and stylized as TALBOTS, is an American specialty retailer and direct marketer of women's clothing, shoes and fashion accessories. As of 2018, the company operated 495 Talbots stores in the United S ...

women's retail clothing chain with her husband, Rudolf Talbot.

Early life and career

Nancy Orr was born in 1920 in

Charlevoix, Michigan Charlevoix ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Charlevoix County, Michigan, Charlevoix County. Part of Northern Michigan, Charlevoix is located on an isthmus between Lake Michigan and Lake Charlevoix, bisected by ...

, which was the location of her family's summer home. She was raised in Chicago, Illinois. She graduated from The Shipley School in

Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania Bryn Mawr (, from Welsh language, Welsh for 'big hill') is a census-designated place (CDP) located in Pennsylvania, United States. It is located just west of Philadelphia along Lancaster Avenue, also known as U.S. Route 30 in Pennsylvania, U.S. ...

, a private prep school. Nancy went on to attend

Radcliffe College Radcliffe College was a Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that was founded in 1879. In 1999, it was fully incorporated into Harvard Colle ...

for one year, but left in 1944 to take a position with the

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

. The Red Cross assigned her to a military

reconnaissance In military operations, military reconnaissance () or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, the terrain, and civil activities in the area of operations. In military jargon, reconnai ...

unit in France near the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

where she met her future husband, Rudolf Talbot.The couple married in 1945. The couple returned to the United States. Her father-in-law opened a Johnny Appleseed clothing store in

Hingham, Massachusetts Hingham ( ) is a town in northern Plymouth County, Massachusetts, Plymouth County in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. Part of the Greater Boston region, it is located on the South Shore (Massachusetts), South Shore of Massachusetts. At the 2020 ...

, in 1945, but died suddenly, which forced Rudolf Talbot to take over the business. Rudolf Talbot dropped the Johnny Appleseed franchise in 1947, because he disliked the clothing he was selling. Rudolf and Nancy started a new clothing store, which they first called "The Talbots." The business eventually became known as Talbots and soon moved to a single-family clapboard house in Hingham, Massachusetts. The couple painted the Talbots store's door red, which remains a trademark of Talbots stores up to the present day. In 1949, the couple distributed 3,000 fliers to potential customers from ''The'' ''New Yorker's'' mailing list. This was a precursor to the company's catalog, launched in 1952. Nancy and Rudolf opened three new stores in

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

and

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

during the next 10 years to target female consumers who were relocating to the

suburbs A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

following World War II. Rudolf Talbot focused on expanding the Talbots company, while Nancy worked as the company's

buyer Procurement is the process of locating and agreeing to terms and purchasing goods, services, or other works from an external source, often with the use of a tendering or competitive bidding process. The term may also refer to a contractual o ...

purchasing agent Purchasing is the procurement process a business or organization uses to acquire goods or services to accomplish its goals. Although there are several organizations that attempt to set standards in the purchasing process, processes can vary gr ...

and held creative control over the

merchandise Merchandising is any practice which contributes to the sale of Product (business), products ("merch" colloquially) to a retail consumer. At a retail in-store level, merchandising refers to displaying products that are for sale in a creative w ...

. They gradually dropped their men's and children's clothing lines to focus exclusively on women's

apparel Clothing (also known as clothes, garments, dress, apparel, or attire) is any item worn on a human human body, body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin s ...

. The Talbots sold their company, along with its four existing stores at the time, to

General Mills General Mills, Inc. is an American multinational corporation, multinational manufacturer and marketer of branded ultra-processed consumer foods sold through retail stores. Founded on the banks of the Mississippi River at Saint Anthony Falls in ...

in 1973. In the late 1980s, the company expanded into California. Nancy Talbot remained at Talbots as a vice president until her retirement in 1983. By the time she retired, Talbots had grown to approximately 30 stores with a catalog circulation of more than 10 million copies per year. As of 2009, Talbots had 586 locations and more than $1.5 billion in revenue.

Personal life

Nancy Talbot married Rudolph Talbot in 1945. The couple had two daughters, six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. Rudolf Talbot died in 1987. Nancy Talbot died from complications of

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

on August 30, 2009, at her home in

Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city in Boulder County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the most ...

, at the age of 89.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Talbot, Nancy 2009 deaths American businesspeople in retailing American business executives People from Hingham, Massachusetts Businesspeople from Chicago Businesspeople from Boulder, Colorado 1920 births Deaths from Alzheimer's disease in Colorado American women business executives 20th-century American businesspeople Radcliffe College alumni People from Charlevoix, Michigan Shipley School alumni 20th-century American businesswomen American expatriates in France 21st-century American women 20th-century fashion