沃尔玛从一个单一店铺成长为世界零售业“老大”（一）

 

Wal-Mart Grows from a Single Store to World Leader  (Part 1)

沃尔玛从一个单一店铺成长为世界零售业“老大”（一）

 

The discount chain store Wal-Mart began as a small shop in the U.S. state of Arkansas some 40 years ago. Today, it's the largest private company in the world. The business' phenomenal growth is just one of its hallmarks. Wal-Mart has also revolutionized the way people shop - with results that have brought the company both praise and criticism.

 

The statistics are startling: Wal-Mart has about 5,000 stores worldwide, and more than 1.5 million employees. In the fiscal¹ year ending in January 2005, the company's sales revenues amounted to $256 billion. Besides its thousands of locations in the United States, Wal-Mart has some 1,300 stores overseas with locations in Mexico, Canada, Britain, Germany, Japan and China.

 

As if this isn't enough, consider its share of shoppers. Eight out of 10 American households shop at Wal-Mart at least once a year. Worldwide, more than 100 million customers visit Wal-Mart every week.

 

Michael Silverstein: I think Wal-Mart is a brilliant company with a tremendous amount of growth potential. [The company] has made it from generation 1 to generation 2, which is to move from the Wal-Mart discount store to the Wal-Mart Supercenter.

 

Retail² expert Michael Silverstein is senior vice³ president of the consulting firm Boston Consulting Group.

 

Michael Silverstein: They have a hunger to add categories [of products], and a very powerful internal culture. My guess is that they have many, many, many good years ahead of them.

 

The consultant⁴ says those good years will likely be built on the same premise⁵ that Wal-Mart has used so effectively up until now: low prices.

 

Michael Silverstein: It has a fantastic logistic system, and a great ability to provide America with bargains, [They advertise] 'always lowest prices, always here', stack it out, sell huge quantities of merchandise, and pass the economy (the savings) onto the consumer.

 

According to research by the consulting firm AT Kearny, Wal-Mart's three biggest sources of cost advantage are low corporate⁶ overheads, efficient supply chain and, above all, low labor⁷ costs. A newly hired employee at Wal-Mart might earn as little as $8 an hour, some 20-30% less than unionized workers at rival discount stores.

 

Although some of Wal-Mart's business practices -- such as resisting unionization -- are controversial, it's impossible to argue with the company's success. And in spite of the fact that Wal-Mart already dominates the retail industry, most experts agree it still has huge potential for growth.

 

Jorge Leis, a partner at consultants⁸ Bain and Company.

 

Jorge Leis: As I understand it, [there] is a[n] $8 trillion retail market, [So] you are probably looking at closer to 3-4% of the total domestic market, if you assume an $8 trillion retail sales market, and they (Wal-Mart) are at $270 and $280 billion, you are looking at about 3.5%.

 

Mr. Leis says, Wal-Mart once believed that each of its stores served people living within a 24-kilometer radius⁹. But recent research indicates that each store's actual trading zone - the area within which it attracts customers -- is an 8-kilometer radius. That could mean more Wal-Mart stores, much closer together. In fact, according to a report by The Economist¹⁰, Wal-Mart's corporate headquarters approves $1 billion in real estate purchases each month.

 

Sarah H. Long, VOA news, Washington, D.C.

 

注释：

discount [5diskaunt] n. 折扣

chain store 连锁商店

Arkansas [5B:kEnsC:] n. 阿肯色州（美国中南部的州）

phenomenal [fi5nCminl] adj. 显著的

hallmark [5hC:lmB:k] n. 特点

potential [pE5tenF(E)l] n. 潜能，潜力

category [5kAti^Eri] n. 种类

merchandise [5mE:tFEndaiz] n. 商品，货物

radius [5reidjEs] n. 半径，范围

1 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

2 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

3 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

4 consultant   

n.顾问；会诊医师，专科医生

参考例句：

• He is a consultant on law affairs to the mayor.他是市长的一个法律顾问。
• Originally,Gar had agreed to come up as a consultant.原来，加尔只答应来充当我们的顾问。

5 premise   

n.前提；v.提论，预述

参考例句：

• Let me premise my argument with a bit of history.让我引述一些史实作为我立论的前提。
• We can deduce a conclusion from the premise.我们可以从这个前提推出结论。

6 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

7 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

8 consultants   

顾问( consultant的名词复数 )； 高级顾问医生，会诊医生

参考例句：

• a firm of management consultants 管理咨询公司
• There're many consultants in hospital. 医院里有很多会诊医生。

9 radius   

n.半径，半径范围；有效航程，范围，界限

参考例句：

• He has visited every shop within a radius of two miles.周围两英里以内的店铺他都去过。
• We are measuring the radius of the circle.我们正在测量圆的半径。

10 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。