STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

Have you ever been there? The reason I ask is that while there are tons of storefronts all along Canal St., there isn't really one that I can point to. I assume the businesses do have names, but they really butt up against each other. My suggestion would be to start at the intersection of Canal and Broadway and walk west along Canal. You'll find hole-in-the-wall places galore. There's been a lot of crack-down recently on fakes, which only means they've gone underground (literally). My SIL took a friend of hers who was visiting and wanted some "louis vuitton" and aparently they take you to the back of the store and then into a hidden room or the basement, or something, to look at the fakes. At least that's what she said. Additionally, you'll see ppl standing at the corners with laminated pictures of real Louis stuff, and then if you express interest in buying something remarkably similar they'll take you to their store.
For a legit store near Canal that has cool stuff, I recommend Pearl River Market. It is a couple of blocks up on Broadway, but has nice stuff and is relatively inexpensive. It does not sell knock-offs, however, just nice Chinese and Chinese-inspired clothing, food, bowls, etc. Lots of fun to look around, and it's air-conditioned too.