商业报道:关闭是为了扩张 星巴克中国策略

We were invited to open up a store there. We did very well. And then all of a sudden it was reported by a local blogger that perhaps we were being disrespectful of the history and culture of China. And I think for us as soon as that occured, you know we took a step back and said we don't wanna do anything that would dilute¹ the integrity of the heritage of culture of the Chinese people. And if they want us to leave, we will leave. And I think we did that very respectfully and walked away. And I think many other companies probably would have fought it, but we didn't. And there's lots of opportunities for us and we don't want to do anything that would be inconsistent with how people would view an outsider. I'd like to open this up now to our audience here the China Europe International Business School and our first question today comes from Robert Zhang. Robert.

OK. Thank you. I'm Robert CEIBS first year student. I want to ask you a question about the price. Price? Yeah. Starbucks' products are expensive but it also means a fashionable experience, right? So can you tell me the reason can you tell me why people want to keep, er, want to get a premium²?

I wouldn't say Starbucks' coffee is expensive. I would say it's a premium product in a premium price based on what it is we deliver to the consumer. And the price of coffee that we buy is significantly higher in price than most people in the coffee business. And then in terms of what it is we do to deliever on the experience, people really do feel that there is good value for the experience and what happens in the Starbucks store.

Hi, I'm Aleksandra Krainski CEIBS exchange student from Germany. Uh, we know that China is a nation of tea drinkers. How do you make it a nation of coffee drinkers and have you ever thought of adding a tea chain to your business, Starbucks tea?

Another good question. So you know where they came from.

I think it's, it's, I was talking about coming to China and being respectful of the heritage here. Starbucks is not coming to China to displace the love that people have for tea. We are coming to China to create a complementary beverage³ experience. So we have been in the tea business for over 30 years, but it's less than 1% of our sales. I don't think that there's an economic model that I can see for traditional tea store in our future.

Let's go to Sher Le now. Sher Le? My question is we've heard of the cappucino and other different products you have introduced. Well I was wondering what products have not needed or any ideas that did not work?

I'll give you one idea that was a big failure, and it was my personal idea. A few years back I had the brilliant idea that we should publish our own magazine. And you know on paper it looked like a great opportunity. All the people coming into our stores, you see them reading, uh, we sell lots of newspapers in our stores. Why don't we just create our own magazine? You know there's a hundred magazines or a thousand magazines out there that are fantastic. Not good enough for us, we'll do our own. And we got a great partner. And it was a timing⁴. And we invested millions of dollars, fantastic-looking magazine, great editor and no one bought it. And we lost our shirt. And I have a rack of those magazines sitting permanently⁵ in my own office to try and remind myself and others a very important I think business lesson and that is, it's one thing to learn from your mistakes but sometimes you have to celebrate them. And the one thing that I do not wanna do at Starbucks is, is have the kind of failure where we start discouraging creativity and entrepreneurship. I'm very fond of encourging our people to recognize that our success is not an entitlement. It has to be earned. And we have no right to enduring success unless we continue to be relevant and close to the consumer. But there's a real balance here. The world is changing so quickly and the consumer has so many choices that the important thing is not only staying relevant but the important thing is preserving and enhancing your core business. So that it is not diluted⁶ by other things that you do. And this is a, an art not a science.

Notes:

Lose one's shirt: Face financial ruin, go bankrupt

1 dilute   

vt.稀释，冲淡；adj.稀释的，冲淡的

参考例句：

• The water will dilute the wine.水能使酒变淡。
• Zinc displaces the hydrogen of dilute acids.锌置换了稀酸中的氢。

2 premium   

n.加付款；赠品；adj.高级的；售价高的

参考例句：

• You have to pay a premium for express delivery.寄快递你得付额外费用。
• Fresh water was at a premium after the reservoir was contaminated.在水库被污染之后，清水便因稀而贵了。

3 beverage   

n.(水，酒等之外的)饮料

参考例句：

• The beverage is often colored with caramel.这种饮料常用焦糖染色。
• Beer is a beverage of the remotest time.啤酒是一种最古老的饮料。

4 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

5 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

6 diluted   

无力的，冲淡的

参考例句：

• The paint can be diluted with water to make a lighter shade. 这颜料可用水稀释以使色度淡一些。
• This pesticide is diluted with water and applied directly to the fields. 这种杀虫剂用水稀释后直接施用在田里。