双语财经新闻 第9期:公司扩展产品线(2)
Last month, Zippo introduced a casual-clothing line, including hoodies, ball caps and jeans, made under license by Joint Base Ltd., Hong Kong. Zippo says the clothes will be available through such retailers as Urban Outfitters Inc. and Glik Co.，s department stores.
In January, Zippo unveiled prototypes of the boutiques and kiosks that could display its merchandise in department stores, malls and airports. Along with the planned Kennedy airport store, Zippo is scouting for sites in Paris, London, Tokyo, Beijing and Shanghai. Already, overseas Zippo distributors have opened a few stores in China, South Korea and the Philippines.
1月份，Zippo推出了可以在百货商店、购物中心和机场陈列其商品的专卖店及 柜台样板。在规划甘乃迪机场专卖店的同时，该公司还在巴黎、伦敦、东京、北京和 上海选址。目前Zippo的海外经销商巳经在中国、韩国和菲律宾开设了几家新店。Zippo is also diversifying into outdoor products that are more closely related to lighters, including hand warmers and devices for lighting grills, torches and camp fires. Mr, Booth has high hopes for the products but concedes that Zippo hasn’t yet found another “home run” to rival its lighters. So it’s also looking for acquisitions in such areas as camping stoves, grills, flashlights and knives, he says.
Zippo还将业务扩展至与打火机关系比较密切的户外产品领域，包括暖手宝和 用于烤架、喷灯、篝火的点火装置。布斯对这些产品寄予很高的期望，但他承认, Zippo还没有找到能够媲美其打火机的另一样主打产品。因此，该公司还在寻求野 营炉具、烤架、手电筒和刀具这些领域的收购机会。
Some of Zippo’s past diversification has been haphazard. In 1993, it bought W.R. Case Sons Cutlery Co., a maker of pocket knives and other cutlery, largely because Case was then a struggling local company. Zippo says it turned the business around.
Zippo过去所进行的一些业务多元化活动具有偶然性。在1993年，该公司收购 了口袋刀及其他刀具生产商W.R. Case Sons Cutlery，主要原因是当时Case是一家 在困境中挣扎的本地公司。Zippo称其已经使该公司的业务好转。Later, Zippo tangled in court with a small Italian maker of women’s handbags that were using the Zippo name. In 2004, Zippo bought the Italian company for an undisclosed sum, partly to settle the brand dispute. But George Duke, Zippo‘s chairman and a grandson of the founder, says Zippo hasn’t been very successful in expanding the handbag business outside Italy.
后来，Zippo和一家使用Zippo商标的小型意大利女士手包生产商因商标纠纷而 闹上法庭。2004年，Zippo以一笔未披露数目的金额收购了这家意大利公司，部分原 因是为了解决这场商标纠纷。但是,Zippo的董事长、公司创始人之孙乔治?杜克称， Zippo 一直未能在意大利以外的市场成功拓展这项手包业务。“It was an unnatural fit,” he says, partly because Zippo knew little about the fashion business then. But, he says, the Italian unit has given Zippo expertise to help it design more masculine bags, mainly for outdoor uses.
他说，这并不是一次水到渠成、自然合拍的收购，部分原因是当时Zippo对时尚 业务知之甚少。但他表示，这家意大利子公司给Zippo带来了一些专业技术，帮助其 设计了主要用于户外的比较男性化的包具。Zippo now gets about 60% of its sales outside the U.S. China, its biggest foreign market, accountings for about 10% of sales.
Zippo目前大约有60%的销售额来自美国以外的市场。中国是其最大的海外市 场，大约贡献了 10%的销售额。Zippo hasn’t given up on lighters. It encourages the market for collectible lighters by churning out scores of new designs each year. Lighters with images of Elvis Presley and the Playboy logo are perennial favorites. Later this year, Zippo plans to set up a website that will make it easierfor people to order customized lighters.
Zippo并没有放弃打火机业务。该公司通过每年推出大量新设计来鼓励打火机 收藏市场的发展。印有猫王艾维斯.普雷斯利肖像和花花公子标识的打火机是永恒 的经典宠儿。今年晚些时候,Zippo打算设立一个网站，使人们可以更加容易地买到 定制打火机。
