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ECONOMICS REPORT - Where Every Day Is Christmas
经济报道——每天都是圣诞节的好地方
There is a place where Christmas lives all year long. It is called Bronner's CHRISTmas
Wonderland in Frankenmuth, Michigan. The family-owned business calls itself the world's largest Christmas store. The late Wally Bronner started the business in nineteen forty-five.
有个地方常年都是圣诞节,它位于密歇根
州的弗兰肯默斯城,人们称它为“布朗纳
圣诞仙境”。这个家族企业自称是全世界
最大的圣诞用品商店。1945 年,已故的沃利.布朗纳创办了这个企业。
Wayne Bronner, Wally's son, is president and chief executive of what is now a multi-million dollar corporation. He learned the business from an early age. Some of his best memories are traveling to other countries with his father to find new products for the store.
现由沃利.布朗纳的儿子韦恩.布朗纳担
任这个价值数百万美元企业的总裁兼首
席执行官。韦恩.布朗纳很小的时候就开
始学习经商。他最美好的回忆就是和父亲
一起周游他国,为商店搜集新产品。
Bronner's sells more than fifty thousand holiday products from seventy nations. Half of the products cost less than ten dollars. Wayne Bronner says demand for small objects to hang on Christmas trees has expanded over the years. People put more time, effort and money into decorating their homes with these ornaments, lights and religious scenes.
Bronner's is famous for its nativity scenes which show the birth of Jesus Christ.
布朗纳公司出售来自七十个国家的五万
多种节日商品。其中一半的商品价格不超
过十美元。韦恩.布朗纳说,这些年来,
对于用来悬挂在圣诞树上的小物件商品
需求量增加了。人们用装饰品、小灯泡和
宗教场景布置房间,在这一点上他们投入
了更多的时间、精力和金钱。布朗纳公司
以展示耶稣诞生的场景布置而闻名。
Michigan has the nation's highest
unemployment rate. Bronner's has been affected by the recession, too. But not in reduced sales.
密歇根州是全国失业率最高的一个州。布
朗纳企业也受到了经济衰退的影响,但是
公司销售额却未下降。
WAYNE BRONNER: "Even though people are spending less, we're having more people visit here. And as a result we've actually had a sales increase."
韦恩.布朗纳说:“尽管人们降低了消费,还是有越来越多的顾客光临本店。事实上,我们的销售额反而有所增加。”
Bronner's success is also linked to community cooperation and investment. Frankenmuth is a town of five thousand people in eastern Michigan's farm country. The town was settled by Bavarian Germans in the eighteen hundreds. It has kept its traditions alive in buildings and restaurants.
布朗纳企业的成功还与社区合作及投资
有关。弗兰肯默斯城是一个位于密歇根州
东部乡村的拥有五千人口的小镇。十九世
纪,德国巴伐利亚人在此定居。此地还保
留着代表当时传统文化的建筑物和餐馆。
Bavarian cultural themes and Bronner's huge store bring three million visitors a year. The town is the most popular place for tourists in the state.
每年,巴伐利亚的文化主题和布朗纳的大
商场都会引来三百万的游客。这个小镇是
该州最受欢迎的旅游胜地。
Bronner's business is aimed at a single day of the year. But that is not too different from other businesses.
布朗纳企业的生意集中在一年中的一天,
但是这一点和其它的企业并没有太大的
差别。
WAYNE BRONNER: "About half of our
business is done in the last quarter of the year,in the last three months. And actually when you contrast that with most retailers, that follows the same pattern."
韦恩.布朗纳说:“我们的生意大约有一半是在一年的最后一个季度做成的,也就是最后三个月内。与大多数零售商相比,事实上,在这一点我们遵循了同一个模式。”
Wayne Bronner says the family's long-term planning and willingness to reinvest profits has grown the company into what it is today. Still,
it does not hurt to build a business on a holiday celebrated worldwide. Currently, about two percent of sales are overseas. But Wayne Bronner sees room for growth, especially through the Internet.
韦恩.布朗纳表示,是家族的长期规划和
对于利润再投资的意愿使公司发展到了
今天这个规模。创建有关全世界都庆祝的
一个节日的企业,并不会使他们遭受什么
损失。目前,大约 2%的销售额来自于海
外。但是他认为市场还有发展的潜力,尤
其是网络销售市场。
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