This building is the former headquarters of Corecom. The only places in Bulgaria where a person could buy Western goods. All purchases had to be in hard currency. So Bulgarians would change money on the black market in order to make purchases here.
One of our guides told us that Kinder Eggs were a huge holiday treat. A couple of our guides related that to discourage church attendance, at Christmas and Easter, the only TV channel available would show Hollywood movies. The only time all year that Hollywood movies could be seen. They also said that Christmas was the only time that Bulgarians could get tropical fruit, like bananas and oranges. One guide said that as a child she got awfully tired of her grandmother always giving her bananas and oranges for Christmas, even after the Communist Era. She said it wasn't until recently that she understood why her grandmother thought fruit was a very special gift.