雙語財經新聞 第9期:公司擴展產品線(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推出了可以在百貨商店、購物中心和機場陳列其商品的專賣店及 櫃檯樣板。在規劃甘乃迪機場專賣店的同時，該公司還在巴黎、倫敦、東京、北京和 上海選址。目前Zippo的海外經銷商巳經在中國、韓國和菲律賓開設了幾家新店。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還將業務擴展至與打火機關係比較密切的戶外產品領域，包括暖手寶和 用於烤架、噴燈、篝火的點火裝置。布斯對這些產品寄予很高的期望，但他承認, Zippo還沒有找到能夠媲美其打火機的另一樣主打產品。因此，該公司還在尋求野 營爐具、烤架、手電筒和刀具這些領域的收購機會。
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過去所進行的一些業務多元化活動具有偶然性。在1993年，該公司收購 了口袋刀及其他刀具生產商W.R. Case Sons Cutlery，主要原因是當時Case是一家 在困境中掙扎的本地公司。Zippo稱其已經使該公司的業務好轉。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.
後來，Zippo和一家使用Zippo商標的小型意大利女士手包生產商因商標糾紛而 鬧上法庭。2004年，Zippo以一筆未披露數目的金額收購了這家意大利公司，部分原 因是爲了解決這場商標糾紛。但是,Zippo的董事長、公司創始人之孫喬治?杜克稱， Zippo 一直未能在意大利以外的市場成功拓展這項手包業務。“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.
他說，這並不是一次水到渠成、自然合拍的收購，部分原因是當時Zippo對時尚 業務知之甚少。但他表示，這家意大利子公司給Zippo帶來了一些專業技術，幫助其 設計了主要用於戶外的比較男性化的包具。Zippo now gets about 60% of its sales outside the U.S. China, its biggest foreign market, accountings for about 10% of sales.
Zippo目前大約有60%的銷售額來自美國以外的市場。中國是其最大的海外市 場，大約貢獻了 10%的銷售額。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並沒有放棄打火機業務。該公司通過每年推出大量新設計來鼓勵打火機 收藏市場的發展。印有貓王艾維斯.普雷斯利肖像和花花公子標識的打火機是永恆 的經典寵兒。今年晚些時候,Zippo打算設立一個網站，使人們可以更加容易地買到 定製打火機。
