Prague -- Thrifty Czechs have discovered a shopping paradise in Western countries once far beyond their means, flooding German supermarkets and boosting business for US mail services via Internet orders.

Tired of Czech stores they see as overpriced, local shoppers are combing through foreign e-shops, flying to London to buy clothes and jamming car parks at German and Austrian supermarkets.

Even Czech beer, the pride of a nation that claims the world's highest per capita beer consumption, is cheaper across the border.

For decades, Czechs perceived Germany as an unaffordable market but the situation has changed since the Czech koruna strengthened versus the euro -- showing in recent months its biggest swing in more than five years, now just over 26 koruna to the euro. In addition, Czech retailers have started charging what many consider exorbitant margins.

"It's cheaper here, that's for sure," said Vera Gottfriedova, a woman in her 60, munching on a hotdog and sitting on a bench in the centre of Dresden, a German city near the northern Czech border.

The hordes of discount-chasing Czechs in Germany buy everything: washing powder, yogurt, toys and, naturally, Czech beer.

"Some German shops sell the Pilsner Urquell lager 20 to 30 percent cheaper than Czech ones which is sad because it's our beer -- yet it's cheaper abroad," said a Czech man in his 40s outside a supermarket in Heidenau, a town adjacent to Dresden.

The store was selling a 20-bottle crate of Pilsner Urquell for 13.5 euros (19 dollars), one euro below an already reduced special Christmas offer at a large Czech-based chain.


Cheap Christmas trees
The discrepancy has inspired enterprising Czech shoppers. Since German shops charge an eight-cent deposit on returnable bottles and 3.10 euros on a crate, some Czechs -- whose country took over the rotating EU presidency this month -- are able to earn about 1.6 euros on each crate of German-bought beer by returning it to a Czech shop.

Half the cars parked outside the Heidenau supermarket have Czech licence plates. Some buyers even drive 160 kilometres (99 miles) from the capital Prague to shop there. Many of the Czech cars have roof racks -- even Christmas trees are cheaper in Germany.

"We sell dozens of trees to Czechs every day," said a visibly freezing salesgirl struggling to tuck a fir much taller than herself into a net sleeve for transport.
A middle-aged couple from Decin, a Czech town about 35 kilometres (22 miles) southeast of Heidenau, pushed along a shopping cart filled with chocolate, detergent and bread towards a small, dented car.

"We come here once a month, look for what is cheaper than back home, then buy it," said the man, taking a bite from a hotdog before passing it to his wife. "The supply is better and the packages are nicer."