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Business
商業(yè)報(bào)道
Canadian retailing
加拿大零售業(yè)
Drug deal
藥品生意
A merger to see off an American challenge
實(shí)行兼并抗衡美國的挑戰(zhàn)
THEY met on July 11th in a minivan on a country road.
7月11號，維斯頓·佳林，加拿大零售王朝的孫子和科庫至·霍爾格，
When they emerged Galen Weston, scion of a Canadian retailing dynasty, and Holger Kluge, chairman of the country's biggest drugstore chain, had made a deal.
鄉(xiāng)村最大的藥品連鎖店董事長在一條鄉(xiāng)村道路上的小貨車?yán)镆娏嗣娌⑦_(dá)成協(xié)議。
The Weston group's Loblaw grocery chain, by far Canada's largest,agreed to buy Shoppers Drug Mart for 12.4 billion.
維斯頓集團(tuán)的羅伯勞連鎖店，作為加拿大目前最大的食品雜貨連鎖店，同意以12.4億加拿大元的價(jià)格購買其康藥房。
With this, the relatively cosy world of Canadian retailing comes of age.
隨著此合同的簽訂，加拿大零售業(yè)迎來一個比較舒適的氛圍。
To global retailers accustomed to merciless competition Canada is appealingly civilised.
相對于國際零售商慣于的殘酷競爭，加拿大則更偏向于文明的請求。
Unlike Americans and Europeans, Canadians have not been hammered by a housing bust.
不同于美國和歐洲，加拿大沒有受到房地產(chǎn)泡沫的打擊，
Fewer big grocery chains are fighting for market share than they are south of the border.
很少有大的百貨公司連鎖店像他們南邊的鄰居一樣在爭取市場份額時(shí)那么努力。
Compared with the United States, Canada has about 60% of the retail floor space per consumer and profit margins are higher.
加拿大有美國60%的人均零售面積但利潤卻更大。
But things are becoming less comfortable.
但是，事情開始變得有點(diǎn)不樂觀。
Target, an American discount chain, moved into Canada this year, joining Walmart, a behemoth that has been there since 1994.
塔吉特公司，一家美國的折扣連鎖店，今年加盟沃爾瑪，進(jìn)入加拿大。沃爾瑪，自1994年就進(jìn)入加拿大的大公司。
Safeway, another American grocer,pulled out in June,
西弗偉公司，另一家美國百貨公司，則在6月份退出。
but only because a Canadian rival, Sobeys, made an irresistible offer for its stores.
原因不僅因?yàn)榧幽么髢?nèi)部的競爭，超市也為他的商店提供了令人不可抗拒的價(jià)格。
Clothes retailing is getting more crowded, too.
服裝零售業(yè)也人滿為患，
J.Crew arrived in 2011 and Nordstrom, an American department-store chain, is expected in 2014.
J·克魯2011年進(jìn)入加拿大，諾斯通，一家美國連鎖百貨商場有望2014年進(jìn)入。
All this is happening as consumers are becoming less cheery: economic growth is sluggish and debt is high.
面對這些，由于經(jīng)濟(jì)蕭條，債臺高筑，消費(fèi)者越來越不怎么樂觀。
Century-old Loblaw is part of the Weston family's transatlantic empire, which ranges from food manufacturing to the Selfridges and Fortnum & Mason department stores in Britain.
世紀(jì)公司羅伯勞是維斯頓家族橫跨大西洋帝國的一部分。在英國，它涉及食品制造到塞爾福里奇和福特納姆&梅森百貨商店。
Loblaw hit a rough patch in the mid-2000s, when it briefly fell into loss.
羅伯勞公司經(jīng)營曾在20世紀(jì)中葉的時(shí)候亮過紅燈，陷入短暫的虧損之中。
But it has since streamlined operations and upgraded its technology.
但是從那時(shí)起，它就精簡業(yè)務(wù)，提高科技。
Shoppers Drug Mart has built its network steadily over the past half-century.
其康藥房在上半個世紀(jì)里建立了穩(wěn)定的商業(yè)網(wǎng)。
The merged group, with sales of C42 billion, is in part a counter to the American onslaught.
合并之后的集團(tuán)，售價(jià)高達(dá)420億加拿大元，在某種程度上，是對美國沖擊的一種反擊。
Shoppers will remain a separate unit and keep its top managers.
商店依然是獨(dú)立的單元，并保留其高級管理者。
Even so, the partners expect to save C135m on annual technology and marketing costs.
即使如此，合伙者希望每年能在科技和市場上節(jié)省13.5億加拿大元。
More important, says Ken Wong, who teaches business strategy at Queen's University in Ontario, is the opportunity for both chains to wring more from their private-label product lines and loyalty programmes.
王肯，安大略洲皇后大學(xué)商業(yè)策略講師說，更重要是兩個連鎖店有機(jī)會從自有品牌和客戶忠誠上賺取更多。
By Canadian standards they are adept marketers of their own ranges.
按照加拿大標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，他們在各自的領(lǐng)域里是熟練的經(jīng)銷商。
But Canada lags private-label powerhouses such as Britain and Switzerland.
但在，加拿大在自有品牌上落后于其他強(qiáng)手，比如英國和瑞士。
There is much to be gained from selling Shoppers' “Life” range of mouthwashes and plasters in Loblaw's groceries and pushing Loblaw's “President's Choice” food in Shoppers' pharmacies, says Mr Wong.
王先生說，在羅伯勞的百貨店銷售生活用品，從漱口水到藥膏，在其康藥房促銷“總統(tǒng)的選擇”的食物有很大的好處。
Loblaw's loyalty programme will get a boost from merging with Shoppers' superior scheme and both will gain from having a bigger data lode to mine.
和其康合并的方案，會讓羅伯勞的客戶忠誠項(xiàng)目參與人數(shù)大增，雙方都會有一個更大數(shù)據(jù)脈礦開發(fā)。
The deal will mark the arrival in Canada of another global fad.
這個決議標(biāo)志加拿大另一個全球風(fēng)尚的到來。
Until now Canadian grocers have largely ignored the trend in other rich countries to open “convenience” shops in the neighbourhoods where their customers live.
目前加拿大百貨店已經(jīng)很大程度上忽視了在其他發(fā)達(dá)國家有客戶居住的社區(qū)開便利店的趨勢。
The acquisition of Shoppers' 1,242 stores, which are mainly smallish outlets in cities and towns, provides Loblaw with a full-fledged convenience chain at a stroke.
超市的1,242家分店，多為市鎮(zhèn)的小網(wǎng)點(diǎn)，這為羅伯勞公司的反擊提供了充分的便利鏈。
It places Loblaw “at the front of the pack”, says Kenric Tyghe of Raymond James, a financial-advice firm.
金融咨詢公司瑞士金融集團(tuán)的Kenric Tyghe 說，合并讓羅伯勞公司走在前列。
The stockmarket likes the deal:
股票市場看好這個交易：
shares of both companies jumped on the news.
消息傳出之后兩家公司的股票都上漲了，
So did those of rivals Metro, a supermarket, and Jean Coutu, a drugstore chain.
股票上漲的還有他們的對手一個超級市場和一個連鎖藥店，尚酷都。
Investors are speculating that these two will join to form another Canadian champion. That is unlikely to deter further incursions from across the border.
投資者認(rèn)為這兩個公司的聯(lián)合會形成一個新的加拿大冠軍并有可能阻止國外進(jìn)一步的打擊。
