Shops make 1m taking francs

SHOPKEEPERS IN A FRENCH TOWN HAVE PULLED IN ONE MILLION FRANCS OF BUSINESS OVER THE PAST THREE YEARS BY ACCEPTING FRANCS SHOPKEEPERS in a French town have pulled in one million francs of

business over the past three years by accepting francs. The president of the traders association in Blanc, Indre, Sylvie Auteau-Moënne-Loccoz, came up with the "Ici, payez en

francs" idea in 2007 but said most of her fellow shopkeepers thought she was a crank with only 10 agreeing to join in. Since then nearly half of all the 80 traders in the town of 9,000

people have the yellow signs in their windows. She says the scheme has brought customers from neighbouring departments such as Indre-et-Loire, Vienne and as far as Paris, Bourgogne, Brittany

and the Dordogne and raised €150,000 (one million francs). Some businesses are claiming a 10-20% increase in their turnover because of the franc. People use francs to buy personal luxuries

"things they would never buy with euros," she said as they had usually found the money in a drawer or elsewhere and seen it as a treat. The traders are capitalising on a tender

spot as a poll reveals that 69% of French people miss the franc. The Ifop poll for Paris Match found 47% even admitted that they missed it "a lot". Francs are no longer legal

tender but notes can be exchanged at the Banque of France for 10 years after losing their legal status. While traders in Blanc accept franc notes, which have a fixed exchange rate against

the euro, they give change in euros. They then exchange their notes at the Banque de France. Five denominations can be ex-changed until February 17, 2012: the 500F Pierre et Marie Curie, the

200F Gustave Eiffel, 100F Cézanne, 50F Saint Exupéry and the 20F Debussy. The 100F Delacroix note was phased out in January, 2009 and can no longer be exchanged. The fixed exchange rate

from 1999 when euros were introduced means the 500F is worth €76.22 and the 200F €30.49. Banque de France says it has no part in the traders’ operation other than to exchange the francs once

presented - however, it warned shopkeepers had to verify the notes were still legal and that there was no fraud.