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| The rise of the fake Apple store |
| The rise of the fake Apple store
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| UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
, 21-July-2011
2:17:41 AM |
| Apple products have always been coveted by other electronics makers, especially Chinese manufacturers. The company's products are so sought after that some electronic makers actually create fake replicas of iPods, iPhones and Mac computers, which are sold in electronics stores and online marketplaces.
Now Apple has to contend with a new genre of copycats, those who are actually replicating Apple Store retail locations and setting up shop around the world.
The fake stores are selling real Apple products, though it's unclear how they're procured.
I saw one of these stores late last year when I took a trip to Quito, Ecuador. Although the store promoted itself as a genuine Apple location, it was clearly fake. The store design and employees were clearly out of character.
According to a recent post on the blog BirdAbroad written by an American woman currently living in Kunming, China, fake Apple stores are starting to pop up everywhere in the area. The writer notes that at first glance these stores look so real that it's hard to determine if they are knockoffs or are actually owned by Apple.
A quick search of Apple's retail store locations online show that the company does not have a store in Kunming.
The store itself has the same wooden tables as standard Apple stores; traditional branded posters and signs cover the walls. There is also the winding staircase and concrete floors you see in real Apple stores. It's as if Steve Jobs himself helped design the space.
The most amazing part of the fake stores in China have to be the employees. According to the blogger, these employees actually believe they work for Apple. They wander the store assisting customers and wear standard Apple T-shirts, which are bright blue with a clean white Apple logo across the chest. Dangling from lanyards around their necks are Apple employee identification cards that say "Staff."
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