Trudy F. Sullivan

Sycamore Partners has made an unsolicited offer to buy Talbots Inc. for about $212 million, more than three months after first disclosing a stake in the troubled women's apparel retailer.

Talbots announced it's named Lesli Gilbert senior vice president of stores, effective June 27. Gilbert will be responsible for overseeing all aspects of Talbots core retail operations in the U.S. and Canada, as well as supporting the implementation of the company's store reimage and rationalization programs. She will report directly to Trudy F. Sullivan, president and CEO of Talbots.

Hingham, Mass. -- The Talbots said Thursday it has named Lesli Gilbert as senior VP stores, effective June 27. Gilbert will be responsible for overseeing all aspects of Talbots core retail operations in the United States and Canada, as well as supporting the implementation of the company’s store reimage and rationalization programs. She will report to president and CEO Trudy F. Sullivan. Gilbert was most recently regional VP East for T-Mobile USA, and, prior to that, was senior director of sales and customer experience at Gap.

The Talbots returned to a profit in the fiscal second quarter as the company cut costs to offset slightly lower revenue. The retailer raised its yearly outlook on the results, but trimmed its revenue outlook due to the continued weak economy. It also offered third-quarter guidance below expectations.Net income for the three months ended July 31 totaled $941 million, compared with a loss of $24.5 million in the year-ago period.Revenue fell 1% to $300.7 million from $304.6 million, a year earlier. Same-store sales were down 1.4%.Talbots CEO Trudy F. Sullivan said the company continued to see double-digit increases in