双语:只卖单色商品成最富女

屈联西

任性卖家只卖白色
　　Selling linen and tableware in only one colour may not sound like a million-pound idea。
　　只卖一种颜色的亚麻制品和餐桌布？这听起来不像是一个能赚到百万英镑的主意。
　　But Chrissie Rucker went six times better than that – making a staggering 6.5million last year, 2million more than the year before.The 46-year-old White Company founder is now one of Britain’s highest-paid businesswomen after sales of the firm’s white-only goods soared over the past 12 months。
　　可是，英国女商人克丽茜-拉克却以上述方法赚到了六倍于上的利润——她在去年一年赚到了大约650万英镑，比前一年多出200万英镑。这位46岁的女商人是白色公司的创始者，这家公司只卖白色单色商铺，过去12个月公司销售量暴增，如今她已经成为了英国赚钱最多的女商人。
　　The home furnishings and fashion chain sells everything from 70 candles to 200 cashmere jumpers in a range of ‘neutral’, ‘winter white’ and ‘biscuit marl’ tones。
　　这家时尚家居装饰连锁店销售各种商品，从70英镑一件的蜡烛到200英镑一件的开司米套头衫，每件商品都是白色系的，从“自然色”、“冬白色”到“饼干灰”等等。
　　Tapping into the trend for clean, fresh furnishings, it has become a hit with middle-class families and now has 50 stores. The latest accounts show sales of 144million in the 12 months to March, up from 126million the year before。
　　迎合当前人们对干净、清爽的家居环境的偏好，这家连锁店已经在中产阶级家庭中蹿红，现在已经有了50家分店。最近的账目显示，截止到三月，该店12个月内的销售额达到了1.44亿英镑，比去年全年的销售额1.26亿英镑明显上升。
　　Miss Rucker founded the business 20 years ago after she struggled to find high-quality, affordable white bed linen and tableware for her boyfriend Nicholas Wheeler’s new flat. They later married and are one of Britain’s most successful entrepreneurial couples, worth an estimated 295million。
　　拉克小姐从20年前开始创业，当时，她正苦于找不到高档而又廉价的白色亚麻布床单和桌布好装饰男友尼古拉斯-惠特的新居。他们之后结为夫妻，如今已经成为英国最成功的伉俪企业家中的一对，身价大约为2.95亿英镑。
　　Mr Wheeler runs a shirt business and the couple were 326th in the 2014 Sunday Times rich list, up from 427th the year before. They live with their four children in a 12.5million 17th Century manor in Buckinghamshire。
　　惠特先生经营衬衣销售生意。在《星期日泰晤士报》的财富排行榜上，这对夫妇2014年的排行是第326位，比前一年的第427位有所上升。这对夫妻和四个孩子一起住在白金汉郡一个价值1250万英镑的17世纪庄园里。
　　Miss Rucker, who had no business experience and left school at 16 with a C in her maths, now employs more than 1,000 workers and was awarded an MBE in 2010 for services to retail。
　　拉克小姐16岁离开学校，数学成绩只得了C，没有任何从商经验。如今她却管理着超过1000名员工，在2010年以其在零售业的卓越贡献获得英帝国勋章 。
　　(来源：沪江英语)