金融英語泛讀:星巴克，從咖啡店到咖啡帝國

The Empire of Starbucks星巴克，從咖啡店到咖啡帝國

Howard Schultz is not a household name to most North Americans, but those living in urban or suburban communities know his company:the specialty coffee retailer Starbucks. In the span of a decade, Starbucks has grown into the largest coffee roaster and retailer of specialty coffee in North America.By 2000，its coffee houses could be found in more than 2600 locations worldwide；even President Bill Clinton has been photographed with a Starbucks to-go container in his hand.According to Newsweek, Schultz's merging with the three Cs-coffee, commerce and community-surely ranks as one of the“1990s greatest retail successes.”

PersonaI Life

Schultz was born in 1953 and grew up in the federally subsidized Canarsie housing project in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. His mother worked as a receptionist, and his father held a variety of jobs, none of which offered decent pay or medical insurance.When“Howie”was seven, his father lost his job as a driver for a diaper service when he broke his ankle.In the ensuing months, the family was literally too poor to put food on the table.It was a memory that Schultz would carry with him into adulthood.

During his youth Schultz was ashamed of his family's“working poor”status. He escaped the hot Brooklyn summer one year to attend camp, but would not return when he discovered that it was funded with government money for low-income families.When he began dating, he feared that his girlfriends'fathers would ask where he lived.He turned to sports as an escape:competitive by nature, he marshaled that drive into succeeding on his high school's football, baseball, and basketball teams.He was awarded an athletic scholarship to Northern Michigan University, and earned a degree in business administration in 1975，which made him the first person in his family to graduate from college.

Career Details

The inspiration for his phenomenal coffee business was a 1983 visit to Milan, Italy. Schultz perceived a new American way of life in the city's 1700 coffee bars, and he sought to recreate such forums for people to start their days or visit with friends.Schultz later described the coffee bar as“an extension of people's front porch”in the New York Times.

In 1987，at the age of 34，Howard Schultz organized a group of investors and purchased his former employer, Starbucks Coffee Company. The small Seattle-based coffee roaster took its name from the coffee-loving first mate in Herman Melville's novel Moby Dick.Schultz renamed his company the Starbucks Corporation.

Schultz's coffee bars were an instant success, fueling rapid growth and expansion, not only for Starbucks but also for the coffee industry as a whole. This new coffee culture supported a proliferation of stores and other sales avenues for Starbucks'beans.The company owns all of its stores, despite the constant stream of franchise inquiries, and has been steadily opening shops throughout the country.In 1992 Starbucks became the first specialty coffee company to go public, a testament to its size and prospects.

Starbucks'first major venture outside of the northwestern part of the nation was Chicago, where mail-order sales were strong. The company's specialty sales division developed new business through Nordstrom's department stores and established Starbucks coffee bars within Barnes and Noble bookstores.Starbucks also formed a partnership with Pepsico, Inc.to create and distribute a new ready-to-drink coffee-based beverage, Frappuccino, as well as entered into a licensing agreement with Kraft Foods.The company even developed a relationship with Capitol Records, releasing Blue Note Blend coffee and an accompanying jazz compilation on compact disc.

When Starbucks opened its first store in New York City, it was a homecoming for Schultz, but he did not act like the conquering hero. The New York Times commented，“The soft-spoken Mr.Schultz has barely a trace of a New York accent and a timid, almost apologetic manner.When he comes to visit the 54th Street store his entrance is ultra low-key.”

Advertisers marveled at Schultz's tactics, including his investments in such“internal marketing”rather than a large external advertising budget. In March 1994 Advertising Age noted that Schultz“turned a small chain into a national brand while spending a relatively small amount on advertising.They don't market……they've established a major presence all through word of mouth.”

Schultz has also attracted considerable attention with his unconventional employment policies. He wanted to give Starbucks'employees both a philosophical and a financial stake in the business.Employees who worked 20 hours a week or more were eligible for medical, dental, and optical coverage as well as for stock options.At a time when other companies were trimming benefits as a cost-cutting measure, Schultz, who grew up in a family without any medical coverage, believed that his approach is critical to building a better workforce.“Service is a lost art in America，”he told the New York Times.“I think people want to do a good job, but if they are treated poorly they get beaten down……it's not viewed as a professional job in America to work behind a counter.I don't believe that.We want to provide our people with dignity and self-esteem, and we can't do that with lip service.”Schultz credits the benefits policy as the key to the company's growth because it gave Starbucks a more dedicated workforce and an extremely high level of customer service.The chain also achieved a dramatically lower turnover rate-half the rate of the average fast food business.This creates a financial payoff for Starbucks, since each new employee costs the company$3000 in recruiting and training costs and productivity losses-the equivalent of two years of premium payment.

Schultz has remained firmly committed to employee and community enrichment. As part of his ongoing efforts, Starbucks teamed up with baseball stars to promote an adult literacy campaign.

His spectacular success has not diminished Schultz's awareness of his working class roots. He dedicated his book to the memory of his father, to whom he had once spoken harshly and accused of a lack of ambition.They were words Schultz would regret the rest of his life, his father died of lung cancer before his son became a millionaire.Schultz once told his audience that his greatest success was that the“got to build the kind of company that my father never got to work for”.

對于大多數(shù)北美人而言，霍華德·舒爾茨這個名字并非稱得上家喻戶曉。但無論是城里人還是農(nóng)村人，都知道他公司的名字——專業(yè)咖啡零售商星巴克。在短短的十幾年間，星巴克一躍成為北美地區(qū)最大的咖啡烘焙者和專業(yè)咖啡零售商。到2000年，星巴克咖啡連鎖店遍布世界2600多個地方。甚至在一張照片中，美國前總統(tǒng)比爾·克林頓先生也手握一杯星巴克的外賣咖啡。舒爾茨的咖啡、商業(yè)和社區(qū)三個“C”的融合被美國《新聞周刊》評為“20世紀(jì)90年代最成功零售范例”之一。

個人生活

舒爾茨出生于1953年，在位于紐約布魯克林區(qū)的一個社區(qū)長大。該社區(qū)屬于聯(lián)邦政府補貼建設(shè)的“貧民安頓計劃”公共住宅項目。他的母親是一個公司的接待員，父親做過好多份工作，但每一份工作都無法給予他一份像樣的工資和醫(yī)療保險。在他七歲那年，父親因為扭斷腳踝而失去了在一家尿布生產(chǎn)廠做卡車司機的工作。接下來的那幾個月，家里的經(jīng)濟更加拮據(jù)了，甚至到了“吃了上頓沒下頓”的程度。這段刻骨銘心的記憶伴隨著舒爾茨的成長。

少年時的舒爾茨羞于自己貧窮的家庭背景。有一年，他從布魯克林炙熱的夏天中“逃”了出來，參加了一個夏令營。但當(dāng)他得知這是一個由政府出資、為低收入家庭舉辦的夏令營時，舒爾茨說什么也不肯再返回營中了。約會的時候，他特別害怕女朋友的父親會問到他住在哪里。為了逃避這一切，舒爾茨將精力轉(zhuǎn)向了體育項目。這個極具運動天賦的年輕人在高中的足球、棒球和籃球校隊中都表現(xiàn)得極為出色。后來舒爾茨被北密歇根大學(xué)錄取，并且獲得了體育獎學(xué)金。1975年，他獲得了工商管理學(xué)學(xué)士學(xué)位，由此也成為家里第一位大學(xué)生。

事業(yè)發(fā)展細節(jié)

舒爾茨在咖啡業(yè)之所以能夠取得驚人成就，靈感來源于他在1983年對意大利米蘭市的一次訪問。米蘭市的1700家咖啡吧使得舒爾茨感知到美國人應(yīng)該有的一種新的生活方式。他尋求建立這樣一個平臺，用來供人們開啟新的一天或是與朋友相見。舒爾茨之后在《紐約時報》中將這種咖啡吧稱作人們“家居前廊的擴展”。

1987年，34歲的霍華德·舒爾茨召集了一批投資者，將他的老東家“星巴克咖啡公司”買下。這個小型的咖啡烘焙店起步于美國西雅圖，名字來源于美國文壇杰出的大師赫爾曼·麥爾維爾的經(jīng)典著作《白鯨》中那個愛喝咖啡的主人公的名字。舒爾茨將公司重命名為“星巴克股份公司”。

舒爾茨的咖啡吧的快速成功不僅使星巴克，同時也使整個咖啡產(chǎn)業(yè)得以快速發(fā)展和擴張。這種新的咖啡文化也推動了大量衍生店鋪及星巴克咖啡豆的其他銷售渠道的建立。盡管要求特許加盟的呼聲此起彼伏，但是公司依然手握所有店鋪的控制權(quán)，并且繼續(xù)在全國范圍內(nèi)穩(wěn)步地開設(shè)多家店鋪。1992年，星巴克作為第一家專業(yè)咖啡公司成功上市，再一次證明了其龐大的規(guī)模和美好的發(fā)展前景。

星巴克將其在美國西北部以外地區(qū)所做的第一次冒險嘗試地點選在了芝加哥。那里的郵購咖啡銷售很火爆。公司通過在諾德斯特龍百貨商店開展新的咖啡業(yè)務(wù)和巴諾連鎖書店內(nèi)開設(shè)星巴克咖啡吧，拓展了新的專業(yè)銷售渠道。同時，星巴克也與百事可樂公司建立了合作伙伴關(guān)系，共同研制和銷售一款即飲的咖啡新飲品——法布奇諾（星冰樂）咖啡。此外，星巴克還與美國卡夫國際食品公司簽署了專利使用權(quán)轉(zhuǎn)讓協(xié)定。公司甚至還同百代唱片公司開展合作關(guān)系，推出了一款藍調(diào)音符混合咖啡，并附帶一張爵士樂專輯的光盤。

舒爾茨在紐約的第一家店開業(yè)，這對他而言，似乎有種重歸故里的感覺，但他并沒有表現(xiàn)得像是一個耀武揚威的英雄?！都~約時報》評價說：“舒爾茨先生說話溫和，絲毫聽不出一點紐約口音，也看不出他的舉止行為有任何的膽怯，甚至近乎于愧疚的痕跡。當(dāng)他來到54大街商鋪參觀時，他顯得那樣低調(diào)?！北姸嗟膹V告商驚訝于舒爾茨的策略，這其中就包括他將資金用于所謂的“內(nèi)部市場營銷”，而非大量的外部廣告預(yù)算。1994年3月出版的美國《廣告時代》雜志曾指出：“舒爾茨用相對較少的廣告投入量將一家小型連鎖店打造成一個享譽全國的品牌。他們沒有進行市場宣傳……企業(yè)形象的塑造是通過消費者的口口相傳而實現(xiàn)的?！?/p>

舒爾茨也時常因為在雇用政策方面“不按套路出牌”而受到廣泛關(guān)注。他想要讓星巴克的員工既擁有公司經(jīng)濟上的股份，也得到一份人生哲學(xué)上的惠贈。那些每周工作達到或者超過20小時的員工可以享受到公司提供的針對身體、牙齒和視力的醫(yī)療保險金，另外還可以按照規(guī)定低價購買公司的股票期權(quán)。當(dāng)其他公司把削減福利待遇當(dāng)成降低成本的重要途徑時，在一個沒有享受到任何醫(yī)療保障的家庭里長大的舒爾茨卻認(rèn)為，他的這一做法對于打造一支更好的員工團隊十分重要。他對《紐約時報》的記者說：“在美國，服務(wù)已經(jīng)成為了一門消失的藝術(shù)。我認(rèn)為人們都想把工作做好。可是如果他們沒有很好的待遇，那么他們就會表現(xiàn)得無精打采……在美國，人們從不把做收銀員看成是一份職業(yè)，可我不這么認(rèn)為。我們希望給予自己的員工以尊嚴(yán)和自尊，而且在這一點上我們絕不能給員工開‘口頭支票’?！笔鏍柎陌迅＠呖醋鞴境砷L的關(guān)鍵，因為恰恰是這個政策為星巴克帶來了更富有奉獻精神的員工和極高的顧客服務(wù)水平。星巴克的員工流失率極低，僅為整個快餐行業(yè)水平的一半。這為星巴克節(jié)約了成本，因為公司要在每一位新員工身上投入3000美元來招聘、培訓(xùn)以及彌補由于生產(chǎn)力缺失而造成的損失，而這個數(shù)目大約是一個員工兩年的加班費。

如今，舒爾茨依然堅定地致力于推動企業(yè)員工及所在社區(qū)的文化建設(shè)。他的努力正得到體現(xiàn)，星巴克與眾多棒球明星通力合作，在成年人中間展開了一場掃盲運動。

雖然舒爾茨取得了巨大的成功，但他并沒有忘記自己出生于工人階級家庭。他曾專門寫了一本書來追憶自己的父親，那個曾經(jīng)被他無情地指責(zé)為缺乏抱負的父親。書中滿是令舒爾茨在后半生感到后悔的文字，因為在他成為一位百萬富翁之前，他的父親因患肺癌而去世了。舒爾茨曾經(jīng)對他的讀者說，他最大的成功便是“建立了這樣的一家公司，這是我父親一直向往，卻不曾擁有的”。

實戰(zhàn)提升

核心單詞

suburban[s?'b?:b?n]adj.郊區(qū)的，近郊的

specialty['spe??lti]n.特性，特征；特殊性

federally['fed?r?li]adv.聯(lián)盟地；聯(lián)邦地

steadily['stedili]adv.穩(wěn)定地；不斷地

compilation[,k?mpi'lei??n]n.編輯（物）

optical['?ptik?l]adj.光學(xué)的

premium['primi?m]n.貼水，升水，額外費用；獎賞

財經(jīng)知識一點通

股票期權(quán)（stock options）

是指買方在交付了期權(quán)費后即取得在合約規(guī)定的到期日或到期日以前按協(xié)議價買入或賣出一定數(shù)量相關(guān)股票的權(quán)利。

福利（welfare）

是指企業(yè)為了保留和激勵員工，采用的非現(xiàn)金形式的報酬。福利的形式包括保險、實物、股票期權(quán)、培訓(xùn)、帶薪假等。

翻譯練習(xí)

lt was a memory that Schultz would carry with him into adulthood.

Starbucks'first major venture outside of the northwestern part of the nation was Chicago, where mail-order sales were strong.

As part of his ongoing efforts, Starbucks teamed up with baseball stars to promote an adult literacy campaign.