I agree. It's 100% pointless at this stage to claim the PR's are fake. Obviously, there are pictures and sales receipts from a few of these stores. Online and offline products can be totally different, as evidenced by millions of products. Jeesh, just the "Available Online Only" button on many retailers' sites verifies that.
The sponge "booked order quantity" at each store is the question. How many sponges are at each location?
The PR flow and no s/p rise, the continued gagged T/A, unprofessionalism of mgt and A/S increases on the other hand, are something to be concerned about. imo