A national women's clothing retailer is shuttering one of its Wilmington stores.

An email to Talbots customers Tuesday said the store at 3607 Oleander Drive will close Saturday but also stated, "This isn't goodbye," encouraging shoppers to visit the Talbots at Mayfaire.

In an email Wednesday, a Talbots spokesperson said, "Our lease expired at this location and we were unable to reach an agreement with the landlord on a renewal. We are committed to continuing to serve our loyal Talbots customers in the Wilmington area and hope that they shop at our store located at Mayfaire Town Center, 6848 Main Street."

According to its website, Talbots has more than 500 locations in the U.S. and Canada, with its main campus in Hingham, Massachusetts.

At Hanover Center, Talbots is in an outparcel building that could be occupied by three new tenants in the future, said Randy Kelley of Harbour Retail Partners, in an email. Those potential tenants have not yet been announced. Kelley's company invested in Hanover Center as part of a joint venture in 2019. 

The owners are in the process of revamping the midtown landmark, which first opened in 1956. They're adding apartments to the site and have plans for more changes.

In the Talbots parking lot at Hanover Center on Tuesday afternoon, Barb Raab and volunteers with nonprofit organization Monty's Home loaded furniture and fixtures into a van. The items are donations from the Talbots location for the organization's thrift store.

Co-founded by Raab in 2007, Monty's Home runs the Pawsitive Partners Prison Program. To help fund the program, the Animal Lovers Thrift Shop & Dog Training facility, 401 U.S. 117 South in Burgaw, opened in 2019. 

The thrift store, Raab said, "supports our dog rescue. We take dogs from the shelter, prison inmates train them for seven weeks, and we adopt them out as family pets."

Other nonprofits are also expected to benefit from Talbots donations. 

Talbots joins other national retailers that have closed locations in Wilmington in recent years, including Stein Mart and Pier 1 Imports at Hanover Center, storefronts that were still vacant as of Tuesday afternoon.