3.4 Модуль 4. International Business Style
3.4.1 Переведите следующие слова и выражения на русский язык:
-
mass market;
- distribution system;
- special offer;
- leading name;
- retailer;
- cut-price;
- privately-owned;
- profitable;
- priority;
- flexibility.
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3.4.2 Прочитайте текст и подберите наиболее подходящее название текста из
предложенных ниже:
1) Setting up a business;
2) Company performance;
3) The stock market;
4) Richer Pickings.
At hi-fi chain Richer Sounds 'we have a laugh', says founder Julian Richer. They
also sell more per square foot than any other
retailer in Britain.
Who is the busiest retailer in Britain? Marks and Spencer? Sainsbury perhaps, or
Tesco? Wrong on all three counts. The answer is Richer Sounds, a little-known, privately-
owned, cut-price retailer of hi-fi equipment with 28 shops in the UK.
In the Guinness Book of Records, Richer Sounds warrants an entry for the highest
sales per square foot of any retailer in the UK – £17,000 – for its store on London Bridge
Walk in the City. Even taking an average across all 28 stores, Richer Sounds still clocks
up £ 5,780 per square foot, ten times more than Marks and Spencer, six times the sales
achieved by Sainsbury.
It is profitable too. Sales are up and its operating margin has soared from 3.4 per
cent in 1989 to almost thirteen per cent today. Last year Richer Sounds made profits of
more than £3m on sales of almost £48 m.
The man behind Richer Sounds' success is founder, managing director and 98 per
cent shareholder Julian Richer, a 39-year-old Londoner who, at the age of 14, used to buy
and sell candles during the energy crisis of 1974. A likeable bloke who wears his blond
hair in a pony tail and operates from a small converted Victorian vinegar factory in
Bermondsey, south-east London, he raps out his sales pitch.
"Even when I was at school I wanted to go into business," he says, "but my age was
against me. Property was out – I wasn't old enough to sign a contract. Cars were out – I
couldn't drive. So I turned to hi-fi, which was catching on at school. I bought a second-
hand Bang and Olufsen for £10, did it up* and sold it for £22." In 1979, at the age of 19,
he opened his first shop - the one on London Bridge Walk.
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Since then little has changed. In simple terms, Richer Sounds sells discounted hi-fi
from tiny, basic shops with low overheads. Stock turnover is rapid and the company's
smallness gives it flexibility to take advantage of deals offered by manufacturers on end-
of-line or surplus equipment.
The technique has enabled Richer Sounds to secure itself a lucrative niche in a £4
bnl audiovisual market dominated by independents.
While leading multiples stock mainly the mass market, volume selling midi systems
which became popular in the early 1980s, Richer Sounds sells only hi-fi separates such as
tuners and amplifiers. It buys either end-of-line ranges which manufacturers are hoping to
off-load before the next, cosmetically different model arrives from Japan, or small orders
of current models which, perhaps because of poor stock
management, the manufacturer is
prepared to sell at a reduced price. Now, as manufacturers' stock control improves, three-
quarters of its stock is current models.
Suppliers are keen to do business with this quirky* retailer. "People like Dixons and
Comet have so many stores (344 and 262 respectively) that unless you've got 5,000 of a
model it's not worth their while putting it into their distribution system," says Clive
Roberts, sales and marketing director of Akai. "With Richer, you can do a deal on 30." is a
key weapon. Richer Sounds advertises regularly in national newspapers ("We buy late
space at a discount," Richer says) and in alternative* magazines such as Private Eye and
Viz. Every month it produces up to 350,000 copies of a brochure pushing the latest offers.
The shops are like walk-in warehouses. Outside, "bargain bins" tout special offers
including audio cassettes for 59p. Inside, compact disc players, tuners and speaker from
leading names such as Sony, Akai and Marantz are stacked from floor to ceiling. Banners
hanging from the ceiling proclaim: "If you've seen it cheaper, we'll beat that price by up to
£50."
Good service is another priority. At Richer Sounds staffs are trained not to be pushy.
They all attend two training seminars a year at Richer's country house in Yorkshire, where
more attention is paid to following the correct administrative procedures.
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First-time hi-fi buyers get a call to check that they have plugged in the
equipment
correctly. Customer receipts include a free phone number they can dial if they have a
problem. Richer's own name and office number are supplied too.
The emphasis is on fun. If it's raining, customers are given a free umbrella. In
summer they get a Chilly Willy (a type of ice lolly). Other seasonal gifts include mince
pies at Christmas and hot-cross buns at Easter. "We have a laugh," Richer says. "We don't
take ourselves seriously, but we do take our customers seriously."
Business:
*sales pitch: what salespeople say to persuade you to buy something;
*
to do something up
:
to repair something;
*
quirky
:
unusual, untypical;
*alternative: not traditional;
*pushy: rude in trying to get what you want.
3.4.3 Найдите английские эквиваленты русских фраз в тексте: розничный
торговец; заняться бизнесом; стремительный оборот; иметь преимущество;
маленькие партии; курсы повышения квалификации; подключать оборудование;
бесплатный телефонный номер; сезонные подарки; относиться к себе.
3.4.4
Найдите окончания предложений в тексте:
1)
Richer Sounds warrants an entry for … .
2) Sales are up and its operating margin has soared from 3.4 ….
3) Richer Sounds sells discounted hi-fi from tiny ….
4) The shops are like …
5) The shops are like ….
6) More attention is paid to following ….
7) If it's raining, customers are given ….
8) We don't take ourselves seriously, but we ….
3.4.5
Составьте 5 вопросов, которые Вы хотели бы задать о Ричер Саундз.
3.4.6
Прочтите текст ещё раз и постарайтесь найти ответы на Ваши вопросы.
3.4.7
Продолжите предложение, опираясь на текст:
1) Richer Sounds is
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a) a single outlet retailer
b) a privately-owned retail chain
c) a department store
2) Richer Sounds
a) sells ten times more than Marks and Spencer
b) has more outlets than most UK retailers
c) sells more per square foot than any other UK retailers
3) Richer Sounds is cheaper than other hi-fi retailers because
a) it only sells old models of hi-fi equipment
b) it buys equipment from manufacturers at special prices
c) it sells second-hand equipment
4) Manufacturers like doing business with Richer Sounds because
a) it can handle small numbers of items
b) it has a large number of stores
c) it accepts lower discounts than other retailers
5) Richer Sounds
a) does all its advertising through brochures
b) gets free publicity from newspaper and magazine article
c) buys advertising space at a low price
6) At Richer Sounds, staff
a) regularly receive further training
b) do not have to follow rules
c) install equipment for their customers
3.4.7
Выберите ключевые предложения, перескажите текст, используя
выражения:
«The subject of the text is…»;
«The text deals …»;
«The main idea of the text is …. »;
«The author comments on … ».
3.4.8 Подготовьте презентацию о крупных сетевых компаниях.
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