巴菲特1978年度信（十二）。2025-02-23

英文早读第216篇，选自巴菲特年度信，友才翻译。

Retailing
零售业

Upon merging with Diversified, we acquired 100% ownership of Associated Retail Stores, Inc., a chain of about 75 popular priced women's apparel stores. Associated was launched in Chicago on March 7, 1931 with one store, 3200, and two extraordinary partners, Ben Rosner and Leo Simon. After Mr. Simon's death, the business was offered to Diversified for cash in 1967. Ben was to continue running the business - and run it, he has.
在合并了百货零售公司后，我们获得了联合零售商店100%持股权，他大约有75家深受欢迎的平价女装连锁商店。联合零售1931年3月7日在芝加哥开业，从3200美金和2个优秀的合伙人，本罗斯恩和里奥西蒙开始起家。在西蒙先生去世后，业务在1967年出售给了百货零售公司变现。本继续经营着业务，而他确实做到了。

Associated's business has not grown, and it consistently has faced adverse demographic and retailing trends. But Ben's combination of merchandising, real estate and cost-containment skills has produced an outstanding record of profitability, with returns on capital necessarily employed in the business often in the 20% after-tax area.
联合零售的业务一直没有扩张，并且持续面临着不利的人口和零售趋势。但是本在售卖、不动产和费用削减的联合技能产生了卓越的盈利记录，按业务必须使用的资金回报率通常在税后达到20%。

Ben is now 75 and, like Gene Abegg, 81, at Illinois National and Louie Vincenti, 73, at Wesco, continues daily to bring an almost passionately proprietary attitude to the business. This group of top managers must appear to an outsider to be an overreaction on our part to an OEO bulletin on age discrimination. While unorthodox, these relationships have been exceptionally rewarding, both financially and personally. It is a real pleasure to work with managers who enjoy coming to work each morning and, once there, instinctively and unerringly think like owners. We are associated with some of the very best.
本现在75岁了，和伊利诺伊国立银行的基恩艾伯戈81岁，威斯克的路易文森特73岁一样，继续每天带着几乎无与伦比的热情去运营业务。在局外人开来，这群顶级的管理者一定是我们对平等就业办公室发布的反年龄歧视公告的反应过度。尽管不常规，这些关系都带来了超乎寻常的回报，无论是资金上还是个人情感上。真的很高兴能和这些每天早上很享受来工作的人共事，一旦到岗位上，像主人翁一样发自内心的责无旁贷地思考。我们和这群最优秀的人一部分共事。

Warren E. Buffett, Chairman
March 26, 1979
沃伦巴菲特，董事长
1979年3月26日

66.retailing：零售业
67.demographic：人口统计学的；人口学的
68.adverse：不利的；有害的；反面的
69.passionately：热情地；激昂地
70.proprietary：专有的；专利的
71.outsider：外人；局外人
72.overreaction：过度反应；小题大做
73.bulletin：布告；公告
74.unorthodox：非正统的；不正规的；非传统的
75.instinctively：本能地
76.unerringly：无过失地