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Business
商业报道
Canadian retailing
加拿大零售业
Drug deal
药品生意
A merger to see off an American challenge
实行兼并抗衡美国的挑战
THEY met on July 11th in a minivan on a country road.
7月11号，维斯顿·佳林，加拿大零售王朝的孙子和科库至·霍尔格，
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.
乡村最大的药品连锁店董事长在一条乡村道路上的小货车里见了面并达成协议。
The Weston group's Loblaw grocery chain, by far Canada's largest,agreed to buy Shoppers Drug Mart for 12.4 billion.
维斯顿集团的罗伯劳连锁店，作为加拿大目前最大的食品杂货连锁店，同意以12.4亿加拿大元的价格购买其康药房。
With this, the relatively cosy world of Canadian retailing comes of age.
随着此合同的签订，加拿大零售业迎来一个比较舒适的氛围。
To global retailers accustomed to merciless competition Canada is appealingly civilised.
相对于国际零售商惯于的残酷竞争，加拿大则更偏向于文明的请求。
Unlike Americans and Europeans, Canadians have not been hammered by a housing bust.
不同于美国和欧洲，加拿大没有受到房地产泡沫的打击，
Fewer big grocery chains are fighting for market share than they are south of the border.
很少有大的百货公司连锁店像他们南边的邻居一样在争取市场份额时那么努力。
Compared with the United States, Canada has about 60% of the retail floor space per consumer and profit margins are higher.
加拿大有美国60%的人均零售面积但利润却更大。
But things are becoming less comfortable.
但是，事情开始变得有点不乐观。
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，一家美国的折扣连锁店，今年加盟沃尔玛，进入加拿大。沃尔玛，自1994年就进入加拿大的大公司。
Safeway, another American grocer,pulled out in June,
西弗伟公司，另一家美国百货公司，则在6月份退出。
but only because a Canadian rival, Sobeys, made an irresistible offer for its stores.
原因不仅因为加拿大内部的竞争，超市也为他的商店提供了令人不可抗拒的价格。
Clothes retailing is getting more crowded, too.
服装零售业也人满为患，
J.Crew arrived in 2011 and Nordstrom, an American department-store chain, is expected in 2014.
J·克鲁2011年进入加拿大，诺斯通，一家美国连锁百货商场有望2014年进入。
All this is happening as consumers are becoming less cheery: economic growth is sluggish and debt is high.
面对这些，由于经济萧条，债台高筑，消费者越来越不怎么乐观。
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.
世纪公司罗伯劳是维斯顿家族横跨大西洋帝国的一部分。在英国，它涉及食品制造到塞尔福里奇和福特纳姆&梅森百货商店。
Loblaw hit a rough patch in the mid-2000s, when it briefly fell into loss.
罗伯劳公司经营曾在20世纪中叶的时候亮过红灯，陷入短暂的亏损之中。
But it has since streamlined operations and upgraded its technology.
但是从那时起，它就精简业务，提高科技。
Shoppers Drug Mart has built its network steadily over the past half-century.
其康药房在上半个世纪里建立了稳定的商业网。
The merged group, with sales of C42 billion, is in part a counter to the American onslaught.
合并之后的集团，售价高达420亿加拿大元，在某种程度上，是对美国冲击的一种反击。
Shoppers will remain a separate unit and keep its top managers.
商店依然是独立的单元，并保留其高级管理者。
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场上节省13.5亿加拿大元。
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，安大略洲皇后大学商业策略讲师说，更重要是两个连锁店有机会从自有品牌和客户忠诚上赚取更多。
By Canadian standards they are adept marketers of their own ranges.
按照加拿大标准，他们在各自的领域里是熟练的经销商。
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强手，比如英国和瑞士。
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.
王先生说，在罗伯劳的百货店销售生活用品，从漱口水到药膏，在其康药房促销“总统的选择”的食物有很大的好处。
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，会让罗伯劳的客户忠诚项目参与人数大增，双方都会有一个更大数据脉矿开发。
The deal will mark the arrival in Canada of another global fad.
这个决议标志加拿大另一个全球风尚的到来。
Until now Canadian grocers have largely ignored the trend in other rich countries to open “convenience” shops in the neighbourhoods where their customers live.
目前加拿大百货店已经很大程度上忽视了在其他发达国家有客户居住的社区开便利店的趋势。
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，多为市镇的小网点，这为罗伯劳公司的反击提供了充分的便利链。
It places Loblaw “at the front of the pack”, says Kenric Tyghe of Raymond James, a financial-advice firm.
金融咨询公司瑞士金融集团的Kenric Tyghe 说，合并让罗伯劳公司走在前列。
The stockmarket likes the deal:
股票市场看好这个交易：
shares of both companies jumped on the news.
消息传出之后两家公司的股票都上涨了，
So did those of rivals Metro, a supermarket, and Jean Coutu, a drugstore chain.
股票上涨的还有他们的对手一个超级市场和一个连锁药店，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.
投资者认为这两个公司的联合会形成一个新的加拿大冠军并有可能阻止国外进一步的打击。
