Transcript for Payless opens fake luxury shoe store as prank

Next tonight, the experiment making headlines by the chain Payless shoes. They held a grand opening of a luxury store with a different name, but the same shoes. And charged hundreds more for those same shoes. Customers paid. Here's ABC's kayna Whitworth. Reporter: Behold palessi. We built a fake luxury store in Los Angeles and filled it with Payless shoes. The guests at our grand opening party had no idea. Reporter: Guests invited to check out what looked like a luxury shoe shop. They're elegant, sophisticated. So classy. And I could tell it was made with high quality material. Reporter: A $35 shoe going for $645. Store owners sot on their heels as fashion influencers emptied their wallets. I would pay 400, 500, yeah. People are going to be like, where did you get those? Those are amazing. Reporter: Then, they're let in on the prank. These are actually from Payless. You've got to be kidding me. Shut up. Are you serious? Reporter: But those shoppers were refunded their money and they got to key the shoes. David, Payless calling it a provocative social experiment, designed to challenge today's image conscious culture. Either way, it was an effective pr stunt. David? Clearly a marketing ploy, but they paid. Kayna, thank you.

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