Tuzex

Tuzex was a series of state-run shops in Czechoslovakia from 1957 to 1992 which did not accept normal Czechoslovak koruna currency but only vouchers (bony) which could be purchased from banks using foreign currency. They supplied luxury items: local goods in short supply and in particular foreign goods. The Tuzex vouchers were effectively an unofficial parallel currency.[1][2]

History

The Czechoslovak koruna (crown) was a soft currency, that is, not exchangeable for other currencies outside the country. In 1948, shops were established under the name Darex to sell goods to foreigners for foreign (hard) currency only (based on the earlier Torgsin shops in the Soviet Union).[3] Later, these became open to ordinary citizens, but not for crowns. In 1950, to speed up transactions and limit fraud, foreign currency was first converted into Darex vouchers in values of crowns.[2]

In 1957, the PZO (Foreign Trade Enterprise) Tuzex (a contraction of tuzemský export [domestic export]) was founded in order to get convertible foreign currency into the country. This currency came directly from foreigners visiting the country, but also from relatives or citizens working abroad, who could send currency to friends and family to buy items in Tuzex, with Tuzex vouchers instead of Darex ones. The vouchers could not be re-exchanged for foreign currency and were valid for a limited time. (The state would convert unused vouchers back to normal currency at a rate of 2 crowns per Tuzex crown, a fraction of their effective purchasing power.)[2]

The first shop was established in

Tuzex vouchers

Tuzex vouchers were originally issued in values of 0.50, 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 crowns and later 500 crowns. However, from 1958 there was a voucher of 71.50 crowns, being issued in exchange for US$10.[2] Tuzex also issued vouchers to foreigners to buy motor fuel. In 1988 the first payment card in Czechoslovakia was introduced to allow cashless purchases at Tuzex stores.[4]

Goods

Initially, Tuzex stocked export-quality Czechoslovak products (e.g. fine chocolate, alcohol) at what would be a good price for foreigners, and Western products such as cigarettes. Better quality/style clothing became important, with Tuzex clothes becoming an indicator of success for some people.[4][5] The clothes selection eventually included jeans (the first being the Italian brand Rifle in 1968)[6] as the epitome of western or "Texas" clothing,[4] white goods, and motor cars.[1] The advantage in many cases was that such goods were available immediately instead of a long wait of possibly years.[2]

In 1988, Tuzex had 170 shops which sold $250 million worth of goods, two-thirds western imports, and one-third export-quality items from Czechoslovakia.

See also

• Eastern Bloc economies
• Foreign exchange certificate
• Torgsin, the precursor from 1931-1936 USSR
• Beryozka (Russian retail store), a Soviet Union counterpart
• Intershop, an East German counterpart
• Pewex, a Polish counterpart
• Corecom, a Bulgarian counterpart