We don’t need no stinking dollars!
Mexican pesos won’t buy you much north of the border. But from Monday they’ll buy you a pizza.
A Dallas-based pizza chain which caters to the Hispanic community is accepting the Mexican currency at all of its 59 U.S. stores starting on Monday, giving the greenback some unusual competition at the cash register.
“Unlike many other businesses for us it makes sense. Our stores are located in predominately Hispanic communities and so the majority of our customers are Hispanic,” said Andrew Gamm, director of brand development for Pizza Patron.
“We know that a large number of them travel back and forth between the U.S. and Mexico and consequently have some pesos left over in their pocket. The pizza business is extremely competitive and we thought this was a way to position ourselves in relation to our competitors,” he told Reuters.
Do we now have the same conflict between illegal and legal tender — that our government suborns between illegal and legal immigrants?
I don’t see this as a big deal. I live near the Canadian border and in these parts using Canadian quarters is quite common. I’d guess that about 10% of all quarters here are Canadian.
I even remember spending some Canadian dollars I had back in the 80s at a Taco Bell.
Stores along the US side of the Canadian border have long accepted Canadian currency, and Canadian stores accept US currency. It’s just a part of getting the business of potential customers – whatever you can do to make it easier for them to spend their money in your establishment, the better of it is for you as the owner. The stores build an “administrative fee” into the exchange rate to offset the inconvenience of exchange the currency at their bank. This isn’t news, just commerce as it has been practiced worldwide for as long as we’ve had trade.
Seeking an analogy between this – and whatever conflicts the government induces? That’s a heckuva stretch.
1,
Soon, your Cannuckistani dollars may be worth more than the greener back!
Unless the item being used for trade is itself illegal there is no such thing a illegal tender.
You can trade pig ears for your good or service should you desire.
Actually, Gig, barter which may avoid taxation was made illegal a few decades back. Ask your friendly neighborhood IRS agent.
I remember the Canadian/US well enough NOT to compare it with exists along the Mexican border. There is no shortage of political clout which can, might and will lobby to require acceptance of pesos. That’s significantly different from a merchant doing so as a convenience to customers.
Hell, if George 1st gets his way, we’ll be on our way to the “Ameros” suggested previously — scrap the dollar.
http://www.dvorak.org/blog/?p=6088
#6 – How?
If I have a Velvet Elvis my neighbor likes, and he has a ship in the bottle that I like… what law makes that an illegal trade and how the hell do you enforce it?
Last night on the local conservative “news” radio station (here in Houston) a local talk show host known as Joe Baggs was having a fit about this.
Who the hell cares? Really? He played it like this would keep people in the hispanic community down, prevent them from using dollars and learning english, and therefore, he argued, prevent them from ever obtaining the American dream.
Thing he didn’t get, is that the American dream is different for each person. What he was really saying was that it wouldn’t let people live HIS American dream.
Anyway, the guy is the kind of person who wants it to be his way or the highway. That’s not America. America is the place where you can be free to do what you want, so long as you don’t interfere with other people’s rights to do what they want.
As for the pizza place, supposedly the pizza is pretty bad, although I myself have never had it. But if they want to accept Yen, Yuan, Euro, Pesos, Pounds, Canadian or American Dollars, or any other currency, then that’s up to them really.
Well, up to them and their customers….
#8 – you are supposed to declare barter on IRS forms. It’s supposedly taxable income, and if you don’t declare it.. they can fine/put you in jail.
Technically, anyhow.
Heck of a gimmick for free publicity. You have to give the owners points for that one. The best publicity is free.
No problem here. Been doing this with Canadian money for years in Western NY. I would have a problem if the government came along and said that business owners must accept peso’s.
6. “barter which may avoid taxation was made illegal a few decades back”
Just wanted to clear this up, bartering isn’t illegal as long as you report it on your taxes.
This is a non-story. The real story is that was posted at all. It reflects an odd and distinctively American paranoia. I can’t imagine any other place in the world where anyone would even think of questioning a business decision to accept foreign currency.
Mark’s & Spencer’s in the UK has been taking € from European shoppers since 2001… Parisian hotels have been taking US$, GB£, … for the last 100 years!
What’s the big deal???
😉
#8 – Its ALWAYS illegal if the govt doesnt get thier cut *wink* *wink* *nudge* *nudge*
The US Government has been wanting to shut down another currency for years. The Liberty Dollar is backed by silver, like US Currency used to be and has been a thorn in the Federal Reserve’s bum.
http://www.libertydollar.org/
The US Government didn’t have much of an issue with this new currency until the US Dollar started to fall in value and the Liberty Dollar increased in value. As the US Dollar falls it pays other countries to spend their money here.
BRING YOUR PESOS and LOONIES my friends, I’ll take them.
Funny thing is that near the Canada/US boarder, both kinds of dollars are accepted at many businesses (though it is more common in Canada than here).
As far as I know, there is no regular practice of accepting pesos in San Diego, but in Tijuana and other boarder towns in Mexico, they typically keep two cash drawers, even in non-tourist shops like supermarkets.
But I agree that the fact that this is even news at all is the real storey. If I had my way about it, I’d only accept gold and silver and only pay with paper money :).
Dave
Speaking as one who lives just south of Tijuana, I’ve never run across a store that wouldn’t accept US dollars (though local utilities require pesos). They all give a slightly lower rate of exchange than you could get by going into a bank. On the US side of the border accepting pesos is very much the exception, not the rule, though I’ve seen it done in small shops.
Blowhards like Joe Baggs just really don’t get it – “Don’t tread on me” means leave me the hell alone. Even if I want to accept Canadian dollars or Mexican pesos or euros or yen or whatever. It’s my wallet, dammit, not his. Or yours either, Eideard. Sheesh.
This is America, we speak English and we pay in Dollars!
We keep catering to every other country or immigrant (especially illegal ones) we will no longer be the land of the free and the home of the brave, we’ll be the land of the politically enslaved and home of cowardly politically correct!
There is an awakening coming in this country but by the time we all open our eyes and see what we are allowing to happen it may be too late for any of us to do anything about it!
If we as Americans, were forced to be as Politically correct, socially blind, and ridiculously naive as we have all become 60 years ago, we might all be speaking German or Japanesse right now instead of ENGLISH! BUt back then, we as a people realized we needed to stick together as a whole, demand better for our children, and expect more from our government.
We hae closed our eyes, turned our backs, and have been the laughing stock of the world for far to long. All those who have fought and died for our freedoms, our dignity, and our heritage must all be ashamed of what we have become!
We as Americans must make our voices heard before that voice is taken from us too!
Just stop paying your taxes Neil. Then your problem will go away. Don’t make it more of a Communist country than it already is for the rest of us. The problem is government. The other problem is in people like YOU that are funding it.
If you want to keep funding it, then stop crying about your problems like a teenage girl…
Now where did I put my Pesos that I brought back from Cancun…
I’ma gonna get me some PIZZA! :-p
Just another addition to the barter discussion. I’m glad to see so many people understand that barter (or trade) is perfectly legal, so long as you report it for taxation purposes. Businesses can easily incorporate barter into their growth plans by joining a reputable barter exchange which will keep track of all the transactions and provide the necessary IRS forms each year. An example of a good one operating in Washington and California is BizXchange, my employer
Exchanges in other parts of the country and worldwide can be found at Barter News
Oh, damn… this has hit the ‘real’ news (AP), and now there are THREATS!
Link
J/P=?