Defunct retail companies

Pewex () (short for Przedsiębiorstwo Eksportu Wewnętrznego – Internal Export Company) was a chain of hard-currency shops founded in 1972, during the Communist era in Poland that accepted payment only in United States dollars and other hard currencies, instead of the country's indigenous currency, the złoty.

thumb|Corecom logo Corecom () was a chain of hard-currency stores during the communist rule in Bulgaria. Goods were often priced cheaper than in the West; however, they were still inaccessible for most Bulgarians because the national currency, the lev, was not accepted at the stores. Apart from Western diplomats and visitors, access to hard currency was a privilege of the nomenklatura (small, elite subset of the general population) and a few other people who were authorised to travel abroad or do business with Westerners. Anyone purchasing goods at Corecom but not authorised to possess foreign