美国有线新闻 CNN 天才也救不了美国零售巨头西尔斯

 

Which of these American companies was founded first?

下面哪个美国公司是最先成立的?

Sears, Ford¹, Walmart or Harley-Davidson?

西尔斯百货、福特、沃尔玛超市还是哈利—戴维森?

Sears, Roebuck & Company was founded back in 1893, making it the oldest company on this list.

西尔斯成立于1893年，是以上中历史最悠久的公司。

AZUZ: From a mail order business that sold discounted goods to rural farmers in the late 1800s, to an extensive retail² store network that helped furnished the suburban³ homes of World War II veterans, Sears grew to become like the Wal-Mart or Amazon of its day. It was once America’s largest retailer⁴ and business employer.

西尔斯从19世纪末期向农民邮购起家的零售公司发展为帮助二战时期的老兵装修郊区的房子的广泛的网络零售商店。西尔斯成为当时的沃尔玛或亚马逊。它曾是美国最大的零售商和商业雇主。

But the 21st century hasn’t been a good one for the company. Since shortly after it emerged with Kmart in 2005, Sears Holdings which includes the two companies has been on the decline. It had more than 350,000 employees in 2006. Today, it has less than half that number. It lost more than $2 billion in the fiscal⁵ year that ended in January and it hasn’t turned a yearly profit since 2010.

但是21世纪该公司的发展势头并不好。2005年，西尔斯公司被美国凯马特(Kmart)并购。

包括两个公司的西尔斯控股公司股价下降。2006年，其拥有3.5万员工。但是现在，其员工数量还不足当时的一半。截止到今年1月份财政年度损失20亿美元。自2010年，并未有过年度盈利。

Now, Sears Holdings is telling investors⁶ it’s not sure if they can stay in business. It’s trying to get loans and sell assets, like its Kenmore Appliance brand. And Sears says it believes it can still turn things around. But because its future is in doubt, shares in the company on the stock market took a hit yesterday.

现在西尔斯正在向投资者传达这样的信号，可能会面临破产。西尔斯打算出售Kenmore家电品牌等资产，以获得贷款。但西尔斯相信仍可以渡过难关，扭转乾坤。但是其前途未卜，昨日，该公司股价继续下跌。

1 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

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 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。

4 retailer   

n.零售商(人)

参考例句：

• What are the retailer requirements?零售商会有哪些要求呢？
• The retailer has assembled a team in Shanghai to examine the question.这家零售商在上海组建了一支团队研究这个问题。

5 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。

6 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会