Counterfeit goods business remains good amid crisis

Text and photos by P.J. Leo

SIDOARJO, East Java (JP): Aby, 50, is no ordinary leather goods shop owner. One of his main tasks is to spy on upmarket shops that sell imported products in major cities, such as Surabaya.

He and his wife, who run a shop in the industrial estate of Tanggulangin, 24 kilometers south of Surabaya, counterfeit famous foreign brands and sell them at lower prices.

"We cater to demand," says Aby, a father of three. "Women want to be stylish and have elegant bags such as the famous Aigner brand which has become a symbol of quality. So we imitate the products."

Businesspeople like Aby and the public alike do not seem to know or care much about copyrights. The business remains robust despite the crisis and many job seekers can earn a living in this field.

In Tanggulangin industrial estate alone, dozens of entrepreneurs counterfeit such products. Some use genuine leather and others use synthetic materials. The estate is also well-known for its embroidery products.

Aby employs 35 workers, 10 of whom attend to customers in his shop and the rest make bags, suitcases, wallets, name card holders and belts. Steel and iron plates with the logos of famous international brand names are imported from Jakarta, Bandung and Surabaya.

"Most of the leather products made in Tanggulangin use world famous brand names, such as Gucci, Aigner, Louis Vuitton," he says.

Prices range from Rp 5,000 (about 50 U.S. cents) for a small item like a wallet to several hundred thousand rupiah for a large briefcase.

Although business is not as robust as it was before the economic crisis, the counterfeit goods business remains fairly good, especially on Saturdays and Sundays. Other shop owners say that orders from major cities remain steady.

Competition is getting tight, prompting entrepreneurs to innovate or causing them to go bankrupt.

Aby recalled the day when the Latin American soap opera starlet Ariadna "Thalia" Sodi Miranda who plays Maria Mercedes in the soap opera of the same name visited Indonesia and met her local fans last year. He observed her handbag on TV and copied it.

"It was a big success. Women flocked to my shop for the handbag," says Aby, who used to work with a leather craftsman in Jakarta.