During the period from 1993 to 2004 when the United States dollar

United States dollar

The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....

 was legal tender

Legal tender

Legal tender is a medium of payment allowed by law or recognized by a legal system to be valid for meeting a financial obligation. Paper currency is a common form of legal tender in many countries....

 in Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

, government-owned shops that exchanged solely in hard currency

Hard currency

Hard currency , in economics, refers to a globally traded currency that is expected to serve as a reliable and stable store of value...

 originally mainly to foreigners (similar to Friendship store

Friendship store

A Friendship Store is a state-run store in People's Republic of China , which initially sold exclusively to tourists, foreigners, diplomats, and government officials but now has no restrictions on customers.-History:...

s in the People's Republic of China

People's Republic of China

China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

 or Intershop

Intershop

Intershop was a chain of government-run retail stores in the German Democratic Republic in which only hard currencies could be used to purchase high-quality goods. The East German mark was not accepted as payment...

 in the former East Germany

German Democratic Republic

The German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city...

) were colloquially called "Dollar stores". In 2004, the US dollar ceased to be legal tender to use in cash commercial transactions and was replaced by the Cuban convertible peso

Cuban convertible peso

The convertible peso , is one of two official currencies in Cuba, the other being the peso. It has been in limited use since 1994, when it was treated as equivalent to the U.S. dollar: its value was officially US$1.00. On November 8, 2004, the U.S...

. The "dollar stores" remained open and despite their acceptance of only the convertible peso, the term "dollar stores" remained in colloquial use.