In Pewex stores in Communist Poland, Could you get Cassette tapes, records, CDs, and VHS tapes?

Question

In Pewex stores in Communist Poland, Could you get Cassette tapes, records, CDs, and VHS tapes?

Answer 1

In Pewex stores one could buy blank compact cassettes and VHS cassettes, but not pre-recorded ones; at least not regularly. Music CDs were also unavailable at Pewex stores. Canned music could be bought at music stores, but the choice was very limited.

Answer 2

Yes, but only blank ones. Poland didn't have any formal contracts with Western record labels, so distribution of Western music simply wasn't possible the normal way. But this lack of contracts also meant that radio stations could play whatever they wanted and people often recorded entire albums off the FM stations.

As for movies, in those days VHS players were a novelty and quite rare, so people had to watch movies in cinemas or TV.