Ikea to Probe Counterfeit Store in China

A furniture store in southwestern China’s Kunming in Yunnan province is such an accurate copy of an actual Ikea store that the Swedish furniture giant is conducting a probe for possible legal action it said Wednesday.

The 1,000-square-meter store is virtually identical to an Ikea outlets. The only apparent difference is that its cafeteria serves Chinese food instead of the Swedish fare normally found near the entrances of Ikea big-box stores.

“I don’t know about the furniture it sells but the concept in itself was very much alike,” said spokeswoman Camilla Meiby who said she had seen photos of the store.

Ikea reported the lookalike store to its worldwide franchiser, which is “dealing with this matter together with their legal counsel.”

“Inter Ikea Systems … the owner of the Ikea concept, sees it as very important to protect the intellectual property rights,” said the company’s statement.