Street in China Lined With Fake Shopping Stores

On a commercial street located near the Wuxi East Railway Station in the city of Wuxi in Jiangsu Province, China, a row of knockoff stores have popped up. The developers of the Shimao Skyscrape complex have filled the ground floor of the building with store fronts that use logos and names similar to well known brands. So instead of Apple, there's "Appla", Zara became “Zare", H&M is "H&N" and Starbucks Coffee morphed into the bizarre sounding “Sffcccks Coffee". All the store signs displaying these famous brands are written in fonts that make them appear legitimate from a distance, and China’s netizens have quickly taken to calling the area a “street of fakes”.

However, these establishments aren’t actual shops, but mere facades for the building complex, like a movie set. All of them are empty, for now. The entire street is property available for purchase by shop owners or landlords. According to the real estate agents the signs were “pre-made advertising images designed to create a shopping atmosphere” and appeal to prospective property buyers.

China is known for replica products and gross copyright infringement, but with the government indifferent and without stringent laws this isn’t going to stop anytime soon.

via Kotaku