www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Here is an excerpt from an article that discusses the discovery of FAKE Apple stores in China:

"After the stir provoked by her first blog, titled "Are you listening, Steve Jobs", the woman invited readers to send their photographs of fake Apple stores worldwide -- and has received responses from place including Costa Rica, Caracas and Vietnam."

Has anyone seen a fake Apple store in Costa Rica?

The link to the full article is below:

http://news.yahoo.com/blogger-sparks-wo ... 40822.html

There's an Apple store in Mall San Pedro, but if memory serves it's an Apple reseller as opposed to an company owned store.

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mh

How ironic, with the apple store in multiplaza being called 'iCon'

There is an Apple store in the Multiplaza Mall de Este in Curriadabat.

There is also one in Multiplaza Escazu.

The question is how does one determine if they are real or counterfeit? From what I saw on the TV story about the counterfeit Apple store in China it looks very similar to the one at Multiplaza. The story also said that the employees really believed they were employed by Apple.

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Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

ID Remember the fake TGIF in San Pedro at the Rotunda de la Bandera?

If my memory serves me that issue -- unauthorized use of trademarks and service marks - was part of the TLC / CAFTA negotiations.

I passed by that TGIF a few times and the signage looked exactly like the that of a TGIF in the states. I was never inside so did not see if their menu was comparable.

I believe you are correct that the CAFTA agreement addresses that issue but I do not know how serious the enforcement is.

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Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

Apple's website does not list any Apple Stores in Costa Rica. Any stores selling Apple products in Costa Rica is just a reseller.

An authorized reseller is selling genuine Apple products so that they are not owned by Apple is a minor point. The "Apple store" in China that the article pointed out is not an authorized reseller and was selling counterfeit products. It also noted that there were authorized resellers in that city in China were the counterfeit store was located. So the problem remains how do you know if a store is an authorized reseller or is one selling counterfeit products?

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Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

Apparently not very serious. As I was driving around Heredia this past weekend I saw they're about to open a Friday's next to Pricemart. It has a big sign outside saying it's owned by the San Pedro Friday's (not T.G.I Friday's ).

mh

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mh

This is a quote from the article referenced in this thread



Therefor your argument is with the author rather then me so lets move on to a more productive dialog.

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Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

The topic of this thread refers to Apple Stores. There is a huge difference between an Apple Store and a reseller of Apple products. Hell Walmart sells Apple products.

All Apple Stores are listed on their website; here is a link to the site where you can look by country:

http://www.apple.com/retail/storelist/

Let's get back to the main question--How do you tell a fake Apple store OR reseller from a fake? Don't know but here's a blog entry with pictures that may provide clues:
http://birdabroad.wordpress.com/2011/07 ... teve-jobs/

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"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
"Amen, brother"-ED

I lost my sync cable for my ipod touch recently. So I go to Apples website where you can search for international stores and resellers. Of course, the website is down. So if it doesn't come up soon, I guess I'll just go to the one in Mall San Pedro and hope it works.

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Man I'm living life like a great white shark swimming with minnows! It's all about panocha, great scotch, fine cigars, loud-ass rock music and speed, speed, speed - plus spending as much time as possible in paradise on earth, Costa Rica!

I almost never go to the Mall San Pedro so I cannot say if they have an Apple store or not. But I can tell you that there is an Authorized Distributor at the Mall del Este in Zapote. I was there today to check it out.

The Mall del Este is about a 2500 to 3000 colon cab ride from the gulch. It all depends on the route the driver takes to get there.