不理股市動盪 中國遊客在倫敦出手繼續闊綽
London — Twenty-four hours after the world’s financial markets sustained a temporary free fall, wiping out almost $3 trillion in value from global stocks over three days, the dark clouds had yet to dampen the spirits of luxury shoppers on the streets of London.
倫敦——全球金融市場一度經歷了持續的狂跌，但在股票市值在三天時間裏蒸發了近三萬億美元后的24小時，烏雲並沒有影響到倫敦街頭奢侈品購物者的興致。
On a typical wet and windy British midsummer day on Bond Street, home to some of the most expensive retail square footage in the world, groups of Chinese tourists armed with Nike sneakers, Burberry umbrellas and Gucci bowling bags braved the downpours.
在一個風雨交加的英國典型仲夏日裏，在世界上最昂貴的一些零售店所在的邦德街(Bond Street)上，一羣羣中國遊客穿着耐克運動鞋，打着博柏利(Burberry)雨傘，提着古馳(Gucci)保齡球包，冒着大雨來購物。
Few appeared spooked by the dramatic market activity of recent months.
似乎沒有人被近幾個月劇烈的市場動盪嚇倒。
“We have been looking forward to this trip for so long, we would never have changed our plans because of what the headlines in the newspapers say,” said one visitor from Beijing laden with bags from Tod’s, Tory Burch and Smythson, who declined to give her name.
“我們期待這趟旅行很久了，不會因爲報紙的頭條而改變計劃，”一位北京遊客說。她提着很多購物袋——Tod’s、湯麗柏琦(Tory Burch)和Smythson。她拒絕透露自己的名字。
Down the road in another store, an immaculately dressed Mandarin-speaking sales assistant quietly agreed that the global market seemed to be far from shoppers’ top concern.
在這條街的另一家店裏，一位着裝精緻、講普通話的店員完全同意，全球市場似乎遠不是這些購物者最關心的事。
“We’ve had lots of American families over for the summer holidays,” he said. “And from the Middle East, too. The demand from Asia is still there, as far as I can see, maybe slightly slower this season but stronger than ever from other markets. Things didn’t slow down in the wake of 2008,” he added, before leaping to attention to assist a hijab-clad mother and daughter wearing matching Fendi sunglasses.
“我們接待了很多過來度暑假的美國家庭，”他說，“還有中東的顧客。亞洲的需求依然強勁——至少在我看來——這一季也許稍弱一點，但是比以往任何時候都更強於其他市場。2008年後，情況沒有變糟。”說完，他迅速離去招呼一對戴着頭巾和相配的芬迪(Fendi)墨鏡的母女。
On the other side of Hyde Park Corner in Knightsbridge, the gilded halls of Harrods, one of Britain’s most opulent department stores, continued to surge with shoppers. From the crowds snaking up the exotic escalators, weighed down by new purchases, to the throngs gathered in the cool and cloistered accessories rooms, visitors remained plentiful.
在海德公園角(Hyde Park Corner)另一側的騎士橋(Knightsbridge)，英國最豪華的哈羅德百貨公司(Harrods)金碧輝煌的廳堂裏依然人潮涌動。顧客們有的搭乘充滿異國情調的扶梯徐徐而上，有的提着很多新買的東西，有的聚集在隔開的酷酷的配飾區。
“I come every summer with my family from Kuwait from May to October and have done so for years,” said Faisal Said, 36, who was sporting a Panerai watch and Supreme baseball cap while walking briskly through the food court. “We base ourselves here in London but travel around the continent also.”
“每年5月至10月，我和家人都從科威特來這裏，多年來年年如此，”36歲的費薩爾·賽義德(Faisal Said)說。他戴着沛納海(Panerai)手錶和Supreme棒球帽，在美食區輕快地走過，很是惹人注目。“我們以倫敦爲中心，也在歐洲大陸四處旅行。”
Mr. Said, who has a portfolio of investments, said he had seen mobile alerts about the domino effect of the felling of global markets in recent days, but noted that what goes down also comes up, and that consumer shopping habits don’t always sync with the peaks and troughs of equities in foreign countries.
賽義德也炒股。他說，他不時收到警告，稱近些天全球市場的下滑會產生多米諾效應，但是他說，股價會降也會升，消費者的購物習慣不總是與外國股票的漲落同步。
“When the oil price fell, that was a disaster for many people,” he said, “but not lots of shoppers in America. Didn’t they spend less on gas for their cars but more in their stores? To me, these things don’t always have immediate or obvious effects.”
“油價下降，對很多人來說是災難，”他說，“但是對很多美國的購物者來說，那不是災難。他們本來不是在汽油上花得更少，在店鋪裏花得更多了嗎？在我看來，這些事情不總是馬上產生明顯的影響。”
He’s not the only one to think so.
不是隻有他一個人這麼想。
Most industry observers suggest that, while worrisome, currency devaluations and recent market declines will not be enough to offset the long-term compounding of global economic growth and consumers’ appetite for luxury goods.
大部分行業觀察家認爲，雖然貨幣貶值和最近的市場下滑令人不安，但不足以抵消長期以來全球經濟的增長以及消費者對奢侈品的渴望。
In the wake of the 2008 economic crisis, the financial sector boomed. And while the slump in Hong Kong spending has exacted a level of damage for some brands over the last 12 months, the malls of mainland China have never been engines of growth, given the hefty import taxes and the savings to shoppers going abroad — to South Korea, Singapore or even Europe.
2008年經濟危機之後，金融業繁榮發展。雖然在過去12個月裏，香港消費量的驟降對某些品牌造成了一定程度的損害，但是由於中國內地的進口稅高昂，赴海外（韓國、新加坡，甚至歐洲）購物能省很多錢，所以中國大陸的購物中心從來都不是增長引擎。
“Let’s face it,” said Michael Ward, the managing director for Harrods. “The bulk of luxury consumption by value is made by high-net-worth individuals who can afford to lose some money on the stock market without changing their lifestyles too much or thinking twice about purchases.”
“讓我們面對現實吧，”哈羅德百貨公司的總經理邁克爾·沃德(Michael Ward)說，“大部分奢侈品消費出自高淨資產人士之手，他們就算在股市上損失了一些錢，也不會過多地改變生活方式或者在購買前思量再三。”
He said a slowdown by Chinese shoppers to Britain over the last year had more to do with international travel hassles than the shuddering Chinese economy. “The Chinese have been spending less here because of the difficulty of applying for a U.K. tourist visa,” Mr. Ward said. “Many just head over to Paris, instead, to make their purchases.”
他說，在過去一年裏，赴英購物的中國人數量減少，更多的是因爲國際旅遊的攪擾，而非中國經濟的動盪。“中國人在英國的消費額減少，是因爲申請英國旅遊簽證的難度較大，”沃德說，“很多中國人轉而去巴黎購物。”
There will have to be quite a balancing act in the coming months given the macro uncertainty on the horizon, said Luca Solca, an analyst at the investment firm Exane BNP Paribas. “This business is based on alchemy, not science,” Mr. Solca said. “Things could be better, but they could also be far, far worse.
法國巴黎銀行(BNP Paribas)下屬的投資公司Exane的分析師盧卡·索爾卡(Luca Solca)說，考慮到即將到來的巨大不確定性，在未來幾個月裏，需要小心行事。“這個行業變幻莫測，無法以科學估量，”索爾卡說，“事情可能變好，也可能變得非常糟糕。”
