The business stories that matter, by Fortune's Colin Barr
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January 30, 2008, 4:49 pm

Ann Taylor cutting back

Ann Taylor (ANN) became the latest retailer to cut back its growth plans amid signs that the economy is slowing. The New York-based fashion retailer said it will close 117 stores over three years and cut 180 headquarters jobs in a strategic restructuring aimed at helping the company return to a growth track. Ann Taylor said it will open fewer Ann Taylor and Ann Taylor Loft stores this year and delay rolling out its unnamed new retail concept, which had been set to open this fall, till next year.

Aside from charges tied to the firings and store closings, Ann Taylor said it remains comfortable with its fiscal 2007 earnings estimates. “In all, the plans we are pursuing are designed to enable us to weather the expected downturn in 2008,” said CEO Kay Krill, “while positioning the company for aggressively pursuing growth as the economy recovers.” That’s corporate-speak for battening down the hatches.

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Colin Barr covers business and finance for Fortune.com. Previously he was an editor at TheStreet.com and author of the weekly Five Dumbest Things on Wall Street column, and an editor at Dow Jones Newswires.
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