In the unknown Kunming province you can find a perfect replica of Apple stores, where even the employees are convinced that they are working for Steve Jobs.
Counterfeit electronics are not new to China, the homeland of perfect Nokia or Motorola phone clones or. But what about an entire fake Apple store, in a forgotten world in the southwest of the country? The store has all the features that you can actually find at Apple: A bench of experts (Genius Bar), blue shirts and employees that really think that they are working for Apple.
This is what an American blogger found in Kunming city: a perfect replica of an Apple store, but with some flaws that raised questions.
“I entered the store with my husband. Products appeared to be authentic, the Apple brand. They had a spiral staircase, just like Apple, and a strange waiting area, the usual style. Employees wore blue shirts and name badges.
I made a bet about the authenticity of the store, I was sure it was a genuine one.
You’re probably laughing: an Apple store in Kunming? Those who don’t know me personally have never heard of this place, that really is the end of the world. China may even convince you that everything you see around you is true, if you spend a lot of time here.
When I wanted to return to the store five days later, I couldn’t find it because I had the wrong address, but I thought the store was demolished and replaced with a bank. In China this is possible.
However, you guess what it is: Apple store was a hoax. A beautiful one, most spectacular I have seen here so far (and we see plenty of them each day). Some things were not adequate. Stairs were poorly built, the store was not properly painted and the Apple name was wrong because the U.S. parent company only puts the shining apple logo at the store entrance.”
Of course, a quick check on Apple’s site demonstrates that the technology giant has no store in Kunming. The Blogger said that there is a chain of electronics stores in the area called Xinya that is indeed a dealer of Apple, but the store was not one of them.