A POPULAR women’s clothing store is set to close at the end of October after 27-years at the same location.
Talbot’s at The Summit in Birmingham, Alabama will shutter its doors on October 26.
The women’s clothing store has been a long-time fixture at the Summit, being one of the original stores at the shopping center’s opening in 1997.
A sign was placed in store and on the doors.
It said: “This location is closing, but this isn’t goodbye.”
It then directs customers to visit the Talbots in Montgomery and to the sites website.
The news first broke on the Friends of HWY 280‘s Facebook page, where saddened customers flocked to the comments section.
One person wrote: “So terribly disappointed.
“This store served a huge community for such a long time. I helped them move to this stand alone store.
“So disappointed in The Summit for pushing this move for Lululemon. I guess money talks.
“Sad day for women of the community.
“Thank you to all the wonderful employees who were always available to help. Thank you.”
A second person wrote: “I’m heartbroken. That location is a beautiful store. I often visit that location.”
While a third added: “My wife is crying as she has shopped Talbots for over 30 years.
“She doesn’t understand why it closed because the merchandise was top scale choice.”
A fourth said: “Oh no! Loved Talbots! My go to when I need a nice dress or outfit right away!”
The shock closure comes as The Summit recently announced that Hugo Boss store BOSS would open at the end of 2024.
Other store openings at the popular Birmingham mall include American Eagle, men’s store Mizzen + Main, gorjana jewelery and Peter Miller.
RETAIL APOCALYPSE
With a raft of brick-and-mortar stores shuttering across the nation, retail experts say many chains are in financial strife due to increased borrowing costs and consumers tightening their wallets.
According to analysis by retail data provider CoreSight, there has been a 24% increase in store closures in 2024 alone.
Several retailers across the United States have undergone mass closures after bankruptcy filings this year.
Big Lots recently confirmed its Chapter 11 filing after weeks of speculation and detailed plans for around 545 store shutdowns.
LL Flooring will also close half of its over 400 locations after a quiet bankruptcy filing and revert to an old name under its new ownership.
Some clothing retailers also took similar actions.
Express filed for bankruptcy in April and confirmed nearly 100 locations would shutter for good.
Rue21 also submitted another bankruptcy filing after one in the early 2000s and confirmed it would shut down all of its remaining stores.
