THERE is no finer way to spend a Sunday morning in New York than eating dim sum in Chinatown before strolling along nearby Canal Street to buy a Fendi handbag, Gucci sunglasses and a Rolex.
Of all these tempting goodies, however, the little steamed dumplings will cost the most. The bag, the sunglasses and the watch would all be fake — Canal Street is renowned in New York for its counterfeit goods.
Handbags stamped with the familiar LV of Louis Vuitton hang from shutters. Women haggle with stallholders who will not part with a fake $2,000 (£1,150) purse for less than $40. Men crowd round to rummage in boxes of fake watches, including Rolexes, Tag Heuers and Omegas, on sale for as little as $10.
This harried scene in New York City would, it seems, look right at home in Chinatowns in many of the world’s major cities.
The US Chamber of Commerce said recently that 66 per cent of the world’s counterfeit goods are made in China. Fake luxury goods often find their way into Chinatown restaurants in containers of noodles, lychees or water chestnuts. The fakes are then distributed to sellers in the streets behind the restaurants.
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That is why last month Louis Vuitton struck a deal with some of New York Chinatown’s most powerful landlords to weed out such counterfeit goods. The landlord of Great Wall City, a Canal Street warren of stalls and shelves piled high with counterfeit merchandise, agreed with 19 other landlords to post warning signs in their buildings to alert shoppers that any goods being sold there were likely to be counterfeits.
The New York Police Department is also cracking down on counterfeiters by conducting more raids than usual on sellers, to the backdrop of publicity over Louis Vuitton’s accord.
Yet it is unlikely that anyone who shops on Canal Street does not know that they are buying counterfeit goods. How else could anyone buy a $25,000 watch for $10 or a $2,500 purse for $20? Last Sunday morning was no different from any other on Canal Street. During a post-dim sum stroll, familiar words rang out: “Handbag! Coach, Prada, Louis Vuitton inside.”
CANAL ST SALES