时间:2019-01-14 作者:英语课 分类:VOA标准英语2014年(七月)


英语课

 


Woman-Owned Hardware Business Thrives in US Capital Area


Gina Schaefer never expected to get into the hardware business.  But when she and her husband bought an apartment that needed to be fixed 1 up and there were no local hardware stores, she decided 2 she’d open up one of her own.


“I always wanted to own my own business... so the opportunity just presented itself... and I said, ‘This is what I’m going to do,’” Schaefer said.


That was in 2003. Today she owns nine thriving hardware stores in and around the Washington D.C. area, serving a total of 1,200 customers a day.


'Where's the guy?'


But starting a business – especially in a field usually dominated by men – had its challenges.


“We laugh about it in hindsight, thinking about some of the guys that would come in that would want some product help and would ask: 'Is there a man that I can talk to?'  'Where’s the guy in plumbing 3?’ ‘Where’s the guy that runs the store?’” she recalled, adding “We also joked that if you go to a convention and you walk down a convention aisle 4, the vendors 5 don’t talk to the women that are there.”


But over time, that gender 6 bias 7 dissipated.


“There are lots of folks who come in – male and female – who have never had to fix their toilet, for example, and they just want advice on how to do it," Schaefer said. "And if you can make them comfortable and be confident in that answer, they’re not worried about whether or not you’re a man or a woman."


She credits her success to a number of factors.


Each of Schaefer’s stores is affiliated 8 with Ace 9 Hardware, a 90-year-old, multi-national U.S. corporation that lends its name to independent hardware stores. Schaefer says that gives them credibility, and more.


“So they give us that buying power, and then they wrap a whole lot of services around it, whether it be training, store layouts, planning, financial organization; all types of programs that they wrap around the co-op.”


She also credits her employees for her business success. She said she pays above average wages and provides health insurance and other benefits.


“What we really decided is that we wanted to be a great place to work,” she said. “We wanted people to be able to raise their children by working here. We wanted them to enjoy coming to work because they knew that their employers really valued their skill set.”


People make the difference


One of those valued employees is Christina Amaya who has been with the company for six years.


“I like it here," she said. "They respect you. They’re very considerate of everything, of you as a person, instead of you as just an employee, and I like that very much because it makes you feel important.”


And happy employees translate into satisfied customers, like Chris Bolanos who visits the store on a regular basis.


“I think I come back more for the customer service than anything else,” he said. “Products you can probably buy anywhere. But customer service you can’t replace.”


Schaefer hopes to open in more locations as the demand for urban hardware stores continues to grow.



adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的
  • Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗?
  • Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定,我们就不应该随意改变。
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
n.水管装置;水暖工的工作;管道工程v.用铅锤测量(plumb的现在分词);探究
  • She spent her life plumbing the mysteries of the human psyche. 她毕生探索人类心灵的奥秘。
  • They're going to have to put in new plumbing. 他们将需要安装新的水管。 来自《简明英汉词典》
n.(教堂、教室、戏院等里的)过道,通道
  • The aisle was crammed with people.过道上挤满了人。
  • The girl ushered me along the aisle to my seat.引座小姐带领我沿着通道到我的座位上去。
n.摊贩( vendor的名词复数 );小贩;(房屋等的)卖主;卖方
  • The vendors were gazundered at the last minute. 卖主在最后一刻被要求降低房价。
  • At the same time, interface standards also benefIt'software vendors. 同时,界面标准也有利于软件开发商。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
n.(生理上的)性,(名词、代词等的)性
  • French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语,所有的名词都有性。
  • Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。
n.偏见,偏心,偏袒;vt.使有偏见
  • They are accusing the teacher of political bias in his marking.他们在指控那名教师打分数有政治偏见。
  • He had a bias toward the plan.他对这项计划有偏见。
adj. 附属的, 有关连的
  • The hospital is affiliated with the local university. 这家医院附属于当地大学。
  • All affiliated members can vote. 所有隶属成员都有投票权。
n.A牌;发球得分;佼佼者;adj.杰出的
  • A good negotiator always has more than one ace in the hole.谈判高手总有数张王牌在手。
  • He is an ace mechanic.He can repair any cars.他是一流的机械师,什么车都会修。
学英语单词
active trimming
activity restart cycle
Advertisement Regulation Act
Andaman Islands, Andamans
average-weight
beamtherapy
binomial distribution probability
Boselaphus
break release
break-even price
Bretton Woods Monetary Agreement
Briterlich variable radius technique
Changsando
channel address half word table
choga
cigar wrapping
Cinnopropazone
cluster spring
coal storage yard
contractual forum
coriandrol
Cremanthodium angustifolium
cross software
crownhills
crucilly
diagnoser
docuhistory
Donghai
double venturi tube
driving motion
ease someone out
epigenetic mineral
every two years
fate of particles
functional density
GDP dissociation inhibitor
general inquiry
General of the Army
grays in silicon
h. h. munroes
Hanke-Koessler's tests
heldover
heteromorphous combination
hormonagoga
HTML
image-motion compensator
instantaneous error of rotation
Itapicuru
kemmons
kertzmen
kroeng
lanagan
lasta
letter stock
Lord High Chancellor
lubricating oil starting pump
mark of the beast
Mitreola
morphoanatomically
negative viscosity
noninterlocked area
only the good die young
options tariff
oral bundle
parenchyma strand
pecornut
Pedicularis siphonantha
pennorth, pennorth
phosphor laser
placodes
plant colo(u)ring matters
plug-ins
Pyrularia sinensis
reacton turbine
receiving-departure yard
reindustrialising
remote readout
rosies
rotary cultivator
s phenomenon Bordet
schmoozer
scumbered
sideelevation
sight feed siphon lubricator
single-chip
solar satellite
solvd
spot trading
Strait of Hormuz
superior phrenic arteries
tensile
tubular resistance
tyre building
ultraphysical
under-the-counters
uniform divergence
uraeotyphlids
wood-hen
Working Tax Credit
X car
xylariopsis uenoi