Saturday, February 9, 2008

One Can Pay With Euros in NYC

Hat tip to Richard over at creative classroom for the pointer.

One can purchase merchandise with euros in New York City. Just what is it that this might mean? My Europe-based friends and family tell me that they are happy with this new development as they don't have to deal with exchange rates or waste valuable time going to exchange places.
What else could this shift reveal, though?
This just in from Reuters.
'In the latest example that the U.S. dollar just ain't what it used to be, some shops in New York City have begun accepting euros and other foreign currency as payment for merchandise.

"We had decided that money is money and we'll take it and just do the exchange whenever we can with our bank," Robert Chu, owner of East Village Wines, told Reuters television.

The increasingly weak U.S. dollar, once considered the king among currencies, has brought waves of European tourists to New York with money to burn and looking to take advantage of hugely favorable exchange rates.

"We didn't realize we would take so much in and there were that many people traveling or having euros to bring in. But some days, you'd be surprised at how many euros you get," Chu said.

"Now we have to get familiar with other currencies and the (British) pound and the Canadian dollars we take," he said.'
graph per reuters

2 comments:

Unknown said...

good article. just had a conversation about this with a canadian friend.
if one can buy a gyro with us dollars in Athens, why not get a pair of banana republic jeans via the ol' euro. what comes around, doth go around...

Anonymous said...

It's a good deal for the retailers. Euros are likely to keep going up and dollars to sag.