Description
Intershop was founded on 14 December 1962 as a publicly owned company (Volkseigener Betrieb - VEB). Its purpose was to increase the flow of hard currency into the GDR.
There was such a lack of hard currency that even small amounts were welcome and this was a big problem. The groups targeted were mainly tourists and other foreigners in transit from the West.
The first mobile carts were in the Berlin Friedrichstraße station, where cigarettes were sold for much less than was available in West Berlin. Little by little, alcohol and other goods were gradually added. By 1962, annual sales totalled more than one million Deutsche Marks (DM).
Originally, Intershop was organised as a division of Mitropa, the company that provided catering services to the Deutsche Reichsbahn. With the arrival of the first Interhotels, which were intended to house Western tourists, Intershops also began appearing in these Western-oriented hotels. One could also purchase items in their room (via room service) with hard currency. Over time, these hotel-based Intershops grew as well.
Later, Intershops were opened at border crossings, rest stops and transit stops on the GDR Autobahn, railway stations, bus stations, ferry terminals, and airports. As an example of the GDR regime's desire for hard currency, in the 1980s, in the Berlin Friedrichstraße underground(U-Bahn) station, there was an Intershop kiosk on the platform of the U6 line created specifically for travellers from West Berlin who may not have wanted to pass through the GDR border controls. One could disembark from the underground train, make a purchase, and then get back on the next train, and go back to West Berlin, all without processing through the GDR border controls.
Purchases could be paid with any fully convertible currency, such as U.S. dollars, British pounds, Swiss francs, and especially the West German mark. The selection included food, alcohol, tobacco, clothing, toys, jewellery, cosmetics, technical devices, music recordings, and much more. These products could not be purchased, or could only be purchased at lower quality, using East German marks, although the majority of these goods were produced in East Germany for sale to Western companies.
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| WebSite: | http://www.intershop.com/ |