许多旗舰店相继关闭

More Flagship Stores Closing

The idea of a flagship store is more than one hundred years old.

In the past, it was often a company’s biggest store — one in their first or most famous location. For example, Macy’s and Tiffany’s have flagship stores in New York City.

But Americans’ shopping customs are changing. As a result, companies are closing more flagship stores in well-known shopping areas in the United States.

For example, Gap, Tommy Hilfiger, Lord & Taylor and Polo Ralph Lauren have recently closed their flagship stores on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue.

The store closures are a result of increasing rent prices and increasing levels of online shopping, experts say.

The latest victim to the changes could be Barneys New York. It opened its 10-story Madison Avenue store in 1993. Barneys became a cultural icon¹ in luxury shopping but now risks closure.

Joseph Aquino runs a real estate services firm. “We are in the phase where a lot of younger shoppers don’t want to go to the high street. They sit around and buy online and that’s what we are fighting against,” he said.

Still, flagship stores are not completely dead. Many companies like Nike and Levi are creating new kinds of stores with fewer items to sell but more high-technology experiences.

For example, Nike opened a store on Fifth Avenue late last year that does not have any cash registers. Instead, shoppers use their cell phones to see details about the items in the store. Shoppers can then have those items delivered to a place where they can try them on or pick them up.

Another example is Levi Strauss & Co.‘s new flagship in Manhattan’s Times Square. It has large dressing² rooms where shoppers can call workers to fix their jeans so they fit perfectly³.

However, in place of large flagship stores, a growing number of retailers⁴ are thinking smaller. Hollister, for instance, is developing smaller stores that offer online services and serve both local and tourist customers.

Tommy Hilfiger will also be testing smaller shops with online interaction.

Stacey Widlitz gives companies advice about the shopping business. She says they do not need huge stores anymore. She says, “Shoppers are shopping completely differently.” Widlitz adds shoppers do not need to see everything a company is selling. Instead, shoppers need only to get to know the company.

Caroline Nash of Washington, D.C. is 18 years old. She says she finds huge stores overwhelming⁵, especially when she can get the same items online.

She says she links flagship stores to long lines and big crowds. Nash adds: “Unless it is something that offers a different experience, I’m not interested.”

I'm John Russell.

Words in This Story

icon – n. a widely known symbol

phase -- n. a short period of time during which a person behaves in a particular way or likes a particular thing

overwhelming -- adj. used to describe something that is so confusing, difficult, etc., that you feel unable to do it

1 icon   

n.偶像，崇拜的对象，画像

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• Click on this icon to align or justify text.点击这个图标使文本排齐。

2 dressing   

n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料

参考例句：

• Don't spend such a lot of time in dressing yourself.别花那么多时间来打扮自己。
• The children enjoy dressing up in mother's old clothes.孩子们喜欢穿上妈妈旧时的衣服玩。

3 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

4 retailers   

零售商，零售店( retailer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• High street retailers reported a marked increase in sales before Christmas. 商业街的零售商报告说圣诞节前销售量显著提高。
• Retailers have a statutory duty to provide goods suitable for their purpose. 零售商有为他们提供符合要求的货品的法定义务。

5 overwhelming   

adj.势不可挡的，压倒的，无法抵抗的

参考例句：

• The flood was overwhelming and the city was soon drowned.洪水来势凶猛，很快这个城市就被淹没了。
• The act was adopted by an overwhelming majority.该法案以压倒多数通过。