不理股市动荡 中国游客在伦敦出手继续阔绰

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.

伦敦——全球金融市场一度经历了持续的狂跌，但在股票市值在三天时间里蒸发了近三万亿美元后的24小时，乌云并没有影响到伦敦街头奢侈品购物者的兴致。

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.

在一个风雨交加的英国典型仲夏日里，在世界上最昂贵的一些零售店所在的邦德街(Bond Street)上，一群群中国游客穿着耐克运动鞋，打着博柏利(Burberry)雨伞，提着古驰(Gucci)保龄球包，冒着大雨来购物。

Few appeared spooked by the dramatic market activity of recent months.

似乎没有人被近几个月剧烈的市场动荡吓倒。

“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.

“我们期待这趟旅行很久了，不会因为报纸的头条而改变计划，”一位北京游客说。她提着很多购物袋——Tod’s、汤丽柏琦(Tory Burch)和Smythson。她拒绝透露自己的名字。

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.

在这条街的另一家店里，一位着装精致、讲普通话的店员完全同意，全球市场似乎远不是这些购物者最关心的事。

“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.

“我们接待了很多过来度暑假的美国家庭，”他说，“还有中东的顾客。亚洲的需求依然强劲——至少在我看来——这一季也许稍弱一点，但是比以往任何时候都更强于其他市场。2008年后，情况没有变糟。”说完，他迅速离去招呼一对戴着头巾和相配的芬迪(Fendi)墨镜的母女。

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.

在海德公园角(Hyde Park Corner)另一侧的骑士桥(Knightsbridge)，英国最豪华的哈罗德百货公司(Harrods)金碧辉煌的厅堂里依然人潮涌动。顾客们有的搭乘充满异国情调的扶梯徐徐而上，有的提着很多新买的东西，有的聚集在隔开的酷酷的配饰区。

“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，我和家人都从科威特来这里，多年来年年如此，”36岁的费萨尔·赛义德(Faisal Said)说。他戴着沛纳海(Panerai)手表和Supreme棒球帽，在美食区轻快地走过，很是惹人注目。“我们以伦敦为中心，也在欧洲大陆四处旅行。”

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.

赛义德也炒股。他说，他不时收到警告，称近些天全球市场的下滑会产生多米诺效应，但是他说，股价会降也会升，消费者的购物习惯不总是与外国股票的涨落同步。

“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.”

“油价下降，对很多人来说是灾难，”他说，“但是对很多美国的购物者来说，那不是灾难。他们本来不是在汽油上花得更少，在店铺里花得更多了吗？在我看来，这些事情不总是马上产生明显的影响。”

He’s not the only one to think so.

不是只有他一个人这么想。

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.

大部分行业观察家认为，虽然货币贬值和最近的市场下滑令人不安，但不足以抵消长期以来全球经济的增长以及消费者对奢侈品的渴望。

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年经济危机之后，金融业繁荣发展。虽然在过去12个月里，香港消费量的骤降对某些品牌造成了一定程度的损害，但是由于中国内地的进口税高昂，赴海外（韩国、新加坡，甚至欧洲）购物能省很多钱，所以中国大陆的购物中心从来都不是增长引擎。

“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.”

“让我们面对现实吧，”哈罗德百货公司的总经理迈克尔·沃德(Michael Ward)说，“大部分奢侈品消费出自高净资产人士之手，他们就算在股市上损失了一些钱，也不会过多地改变生活方式或者在购买前思量再三。”

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.”

他说，在过去一年里，赴英购物的中国人数量减少，更多的是因为国际旅游的搅扰，而非中国经济的动荡。“中国人在英国的消费额减少，是因为申请英国旅游签证的难度较大，”沃德说，“很多中国人转而去巴黎购物。”

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.

法国巴黎银行(BNP Paribas)下属的投资公司Exane的分析师卢卡·索尔卡(Luca Solca)说，考虑到即将到来的巨大不确定性，在未来几个月里，需要小心行事。“这个行业变幻莫测，无法以科学估量，”索尔卡说，“事情可能变好，也可能变得非常糟糕。”