Airport Shopping Has Been on a Tear for Years. Now What?
機場購物行業已經成功多年了。但現在呢？

* on a tear 成功多年

LONDON—Think retailers and restaurants are having a hard time during the pandemic? Try selling just about anything these days at London’s Heathrow Airport.
倫敦你是否覺得零售業與餐廳在疫情中過得不好呢？在這段期間，可以試著在倫敦 Heathrow 機場賣任何東西。

* retailer (n.) 零售商、零售店
* pandemic (n.) 全球流行的傳染病

Traffic at its once-teeming terminals is down to a trickle because of the coronavirus pandemic, leaving the airport’s retail establishments largely closed. The few pubs, boutiques and restaurants that are open are essentially operating in a ghost town.
在這些曾經人滿為患的航廈，目前因為新冠肺癌沒有什麼流量了。因此造成了機場的零售單位大量關門。極少的酒吧、賣衣服小店跟餐廳雖然還開幕，但它們基本上是在鬼城營業。

* teem (adj.) 塞滿、傾瀉 (通常會跟雨水一起使用，形容滂沱大雨。此處譬喻人滿為患)
* trickle (n.) 小水流 (與傾瀉的人群對比，意指人很少)
* establishment (n.) 企業、機構

The loss of those sales has a major impact on Heathrow’s business. Retail revenues at the airport have more than doubled in the decade since 2009 and now bring in about 25% of its overall revenue each year.
這些營業額的損失造成對於 Heathrow 生意的主要影響。機場的零售業營收自從2009年以來變為雙倍了，並且現在佔有整體機場收入的25%。

* loss (n.) 損失
* major (adj.) 主要的
* revenue (n.) 營收
* overall (adj.) 整體的
* impact (n.) 影響
- have an impact on... 對..有影響

Airports share that dependence globally. Retail sales brought in $78 billion for the world’s airports in 2018, the latest year of data from consulting firm Generation. That is more than double their haul 10 years ago, driven by soaring passenger numbers. Average passenger spending at airports hasn’t risen much over that same period—to just over $18 a traveler, from about $17 in 2009, according to Generation and publicly available global passenger numbers.
所有的機場在全球都公同承擔了這樣的依賴性。最新一年來自於顧問公司 Generation 的數據顯示：在2018年，零售營業額替世界的機場帶來了780億美金。如此的營業額是由於超多的乘客數量，這比他們十年前的雙倍盈利還要多。根據 Generation 提供的公開可獲得的圓球乘客數字數據：乘客們每個人平均花費的成長並沒有變化太多：從每個人平均花費17元美金，到18元美金。

* sales (n.) 銷售量
* consulting firm (n.) 顧問公司
* soar (V.) 數字上升很快
* haul (n.) (貨物、商品的) 量

Heathrow doesn’t charge retailers rent and instead takes a cut of sales, though it doesn’t disclose how much. In normal times, as many as 80 million passengers pass through Heathrow, owned by privately held Heathrow Airport Holdings Ltd., each year. During the height of the pandemic’s lockdowns and travel bans, those numbers approached zero and have risen only modestly since, to about 15% of normal traffic.
Heathrow 沒有要零售業者付房租；相反的，是拿營業額的分成，儘管分成金額並沒有被公布。在正常的時光，每年有大約8千萬的客戶會經過 Heathrow (被私下擁有的 Heathrow 機場組織)。在肺炎造成的鎖城與旅行禁令之下，這些數字已趨近於零，機場流量已僅剩過往的15%。

* take a cut of... 拿..的分成
* disclose (V.) 揭露、表露
* height (n.) 高峰、巔峰
* lockdown (n.) 鎖城
* travel ban (n.) 旅遊禁令
* modestly (adv.) 少量地

While London itself is open for business, a large majority of stores inside the airport remain closed, many behind metal curtains. Heathrow officials say they are working hard to coax companies into returning at its two open terminals, but some businesses are unwilling to open their doors if the potential sales aren’t worth the expense.
儘管倫敦自己生意仍開幕，但是絕大多數在機場內的商店是關閉的，也有許多的金屬門還是鎖著的。Heathrow 官方說他們仍在努力請商家們返回在他們兩個開啟的航廈，但是假如仍然是入不敷出的情況，一些商家仍然不願意重新開幕。

* majority (n.) 大多數
* remain (V.) 保持 + (形容詞)
* behind metal curtains 譬喻為關店 (metal curtains 就是金屬制門窗，關店會看到的那種)
* coax (V.) 溫和的說服
* expense (n.) 花費
* worth the expense 值得花費，對於商家而言就是收入 > 付出

Meanwhile, Heathrow has made pandemic-fueled changes to the shopping experience, funneling passengers through new, one-way routes at shops, offering app-based food ordering at restaurants and cafes and joining other bricks-and-mortar retailers that offer online shopping. Heathrow passengers can now make airport purchases ahead of time and pick up their goods en route to their gates.
同時，Heathrow 已經將購物的經驗基於此肺部傳染病做了改變了：將乘客帶入一個在購物區只能單個方向行走的新通道，提供了在餐廳、咖啡廳基於移動端應用的點餐體驗。零售商實體店提供線上購物。Heathrow 的乘客們現在可以在抵達機場之前就在線上先購物，然後在到機場閘門之前提領貨物。

* meanwhile (adv.) 同時
* pandemic-fueled (adj.) 複合形容詞：傳染病縱橫的
* funnel (V.) 運輸、運送 ; (n.) 漏斗
* one-way (adj.) 單行道的、一個方向的
* route (n.) 路、走道
* app-based (adj.) 基於移動端應用的
* bricks-and-mortar (adj.) 實體店面的
* ahead of time 在...之前
* pick up 提領
* goods (n.) 商品
* en 是法文的代名詞 (類似it/them的作用)，華爾街日報原文中有寫此字，可能為筆誤，但不影響理解本段意思。

All this is being done to preserve the airport’s relatively affluent customer base. Heathrow—before the pandemic, the world’s second-largest airport by international travelers, after Dubai—has over the last decade shifted from selling midmarket travel essentials to higher-end goods like luxury handbags, scarfs and jewelry. Luxury goods can be more profitable and more resistant to the industry’s typical booms and busts.

這些正在被實行的服務都是為了保留機場相當多得客戶基數。Heathrow 在肺炎爆發之前，是排名在杜拜機場之後的世界第二多國際乘客的機場。它在過去十年販售從中階市場必需品，至像是高端奢侈品手提包、圍巾和珠寶的高端商品。高端骯品會是更能盈利結，且較不容易被市場繁榮與蕭條所影響的。

* preserve (V.) 保留、保存
* relatively (adv.) 相對地、相當地
* affluent (adj.) 充滿的、滿溢的
* customer base (n.) 顧客基數、顧客基底
* midmarket (n.) 中階市場；規則介於小到大之間的市場
* essentials (n.) 必需品
* high-end (adj.) 高端的
* profitable (adj.) 可營利的、可賺錢的
* booms and busts (n.) 繁榮與蕭條

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