Canal Street... oh my!

We ventured down to Canal Street this past weekend. Wow... what an experience.
I had NO idea about the stuff going on down there. We were shopping along the main drag (probably looking like normal tourists) when we heard someone whispering "Gucci?" "Prada?" "Louis?" Kimmie knew the drill - because she's done it before. So I grabbed my wallet and followed them. Me, bubba and Kimmie proceeded to follow a lady 2 blocks away on a little side street. All she said is "wait here"... "someone will come get you". She waited with us for about 5 minutes until a man met us at the corner. Just so you'll get the picture - this was a small, ally- like street in Chinatown, off the beaten path. I would never recommend doing it at night and will probably never do it again - even in the daylight (sorry Melissa and Kerri).
The dude came to the corner and said "follow me". We walked another 2 blocks into what looked like an apartment building. We walked up some stairs and up more stairs and up more stairs until we got to a little door with a HUGE padlock on it. He unlocked the door - let us in - and locked it behind us. What I saw next was very disturbing. A massive sweat shop with people scurrying around and sewing their little fingers off. He quickly escorted us past that room and into a tiny closet (literally - a closet). He came in with us and shut the door behind us. There was no room to even turn around. It was just the four of us and about 100 beautiful hand bags! They are literally the best fakes I've ever seen. There was little to no difference in these and the real thing. Even the liners of the purses looked the same with the same embossing on the labels. We were very rushed and I was so overwhelmed I didn't buy anything. Kimmie bought two (at a fraction of their real price) - paid cash- and we were out of there. Check out this link - it's very interesting....
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/daily/12-04/12-20-04/a15wn373.htm