Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
We turn now from the story of fake designer furniture in China, to the story of an expatriate blogger who has apparently found an entire counterfeit Apple store in the Yunnan Province city of Kunming. In fact, she thinks she found three, all within walking distance of the others. According to her report, which you can read at the link, the first clue that the first store she encountered was fake were the words “Apple Store” printed in proximity to the famous Apple logo on the front of the store and on various signs within it. Another clue was the employees’ name tags, which only identified the store’s gurus as ‘staff’ and not by name. In the blogger’s estimation, the store is definitely fake but “a beautiful one—the best ripoff store we had ever seen.” After you see the photos she took of the place, it’s pretty likely you’ll be inclined to agree. The striking thing, of course, is the apparent size and audacity of the construct. It certainly belies the stereotypical vision of shady vendors on the streets of Hong Kong or Shanghai selling fake goods or real goods of questionable origins out of rundown storefronts. (BirdAbroad blog – Amazing Fake Apple Store)
Continue reading