任性單賣白色 賣家年收入過百萬
Selling linen and tableware in only one colour may not sound like a million-pound idea.
只賣一種顏色的亞麻製品和餐桌布？這聽起來不像是一個能賺到百萬英鎊的主意。
But Chrissie Rucker went six times better than that – making a staggering £6.5million last year, £2million more than the year 46-year-old White Company founder is now one of Britain’s highest-paid businesswomen after sales of the firm’s white-only goods soared over the past 12 months.
可是，英國女商人克麗茜·拉克卻以上述方法賺到了六倍於上的利潤——她在去年一年賺到了大約650萬英鎊，比前一年多出200萬英鎊。這位46歲的女商人是白色公司的創始者，這家公司只賣白色單色商鋪，過去12個月公司銷售量暴增，如今她已經成爲了英國賺錢最多的女商人。
The home furnishings and fashion chain sells everything from £70 candles to £200 cashmere jumpers in a range of ‘neutral’, ‘winter white’ and ‘biscuit marl’ tones.
這家時尚家居裝飾連鎖店銷售各種商品，從70英鎊一件的蠟燭到200英鎊一件的開司米套頭衫，每件商品都是白色系的，從“自然色”、“冬白色”到“餅乾灰”等等。
Tapping into the trend for clean, fresh furnishings, it has become a hit with middle-class families and now has 50 stores. The latest accounts show sales of £144million in the 12 months to March, up from £126million the year before.
迎合當前人們對乾淨、清爽的家居環境的偏好，這家連鎖店已經在中產階級家庭中躥紅，現在已經有了50家分店。最近的賬目顯示，截止到三月，該店12個月內的銷售額達到了1.44億英鎊，比去年全年的銷售額1.26億英鎊明顯上升。
Miss Rucker founded the business 20 years ago after she struggled to find high-quality, affordable white bed linen and tableware for her boyfriend Nicholas Wheeler’s new flat. They later married and are one of Britain’s most successful entrepreneurial couples, worth an estimated £295million.
拉克小姐從20年前開始創業，當時，她正苦於找不到高檔而又廉價的白色亞麻布牀單和桌布好裝飾男友尼古拉斯·惠特的新居。他們之後結爲夫妻，如今已經成爲英國最成功的伉儷企業家中的一對，身價大約爲2.95億英鎊。
Mr Wheeler runs a shirt business and the couple were 326th in the 2014 Sunday Times rich list, up from 427th the year before. They live with their four children in a £12.5million 17th Century manor in Buckinghamshire.
惠特先生經營襯衣銷售生意。在《星期日泰晤士報》的財富排行榜上，這對夫婦2014年的排行是第326位，比前一年的第427位有所上升。這對夫妻和四個孩子一起住在白金漢郡一個價值1250萬英鎊的17世紀莊園裏。
Miss Rucker, who had no business experience and left school at 16 with a C in her maths, now employs more than 1,000 workers and was awarded an MBE in 2010 for services to retail.
拉克小姐16歲離開學校，數學成績只得了C，沒有任何從商經驗。如今她卻管理着超過1000名員工，在2010年以其在零售業的卓越貢獻獲得英帝國勳章 。
