Pewex (Polish pronunciation: [ˈpɛvɛks]) (short for Przedsiębiorstwo Eksportu Wewnętrznego – Internal Export Company[1]) 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.

With the aid of foreign loans, Gierek instituted a programme to modernise industry and increase the availability of consumer goods.

To obtain much needed foreign hard currency from Polish society, authorities permitted in 1972 the creation of a network of shops under a state-owned bank named Pekao.

[3] Products that Poles would otherwise have to wait a long time and settle for their poor imitations could be had immediately by buying them at a Pewex shop.

This made the Pekao cheques obsolete and soon afterwards most of the goods that had only been available from Pewex stores started to be sold in private shops as well.

[11] In December 2013, the Pewex brand was re-activated as an online shop mostly selling novelty items operated by Monster Media Group, the owners of demotywatory.pl.