美国有线新闻 CNN 天才也救不了美国零售巨头西尔斯（在线收听）

Which of these American companies was founded first?

下面哪个美国公司是最先成立的?

Sears, Ford, 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 retail store network that helped furnished the suburban 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 retailer 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 fiscal 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 investors 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。