China is well known as a place where you can find almost any kind of counterfeit goods, including copies of the latest Apple devices. Well, it seems that someone has taken that a step further and has faked an entire Apple Store.
Blogger BirdAbroad posted a number of photos on her blog that were taken from an “Apple Store” in Kunming, China. The decor, the furniture layout, everything screams Apple Store. But of course, Apple doesn’t have a store in Kunming. They only have stores in Beijing and Shanghai.
Whoever set up this shop went to great lengths to make it look like a real Apple Store. The employees wear blue T-shirts, with large ID badges hanging from their necks. The stands the iPads are resting on look just like they do in any other Apple Store. There is a winding staircase in the middle of the store, as well as banners and signs on the walls and tables that all look extremely official.
On closer inspection, BirdAbroad noticed that the paint on the walls was shoddily done, and the staircase was constructed poorly. The final giveaway was the storefront sign, which had the words “Apple Store” underneath the Apple logo; real Apple Stores only have the logo.
When BirdAbroad took the photos, she was immediately stopped by several employees and security guards, who told her that she wasn’t allowed to take photos because the “boss” has said so. Kudos to her, she gamely replied that she was an American Apple employee visiting China and checking out the local stores, and they let her take some photos.
She writes: “Being the curious types that we are, we struck up some conversation with these salespeople who, hand to God, all *genuinely think they work for Apple*. I tried to imagine the training that they went to when they were hired, in which they were pitched some big speech about how they were working for this innovative, global company – when really they’re just filling the pockets of some shyster living in a prefab mansion outside the city by standing around a fake store disinterestedly selling what may or may not be actual Apple products that fell off the back of a truck somewhere.”
Even more startling was that around the corner, just a few minutes walk away, were two more fake Apple Stores. I guess business is booming.
It was not clear whether the products were actual Apple products or counterfeits, but I’m guessing that either way they aren’t officially sanctioned by Apple.
Article and Photos Via: BirdAbroad
