The Impact of Retail Chains on the Structure of Small Towns and Rural Areas in Poland

Abstract

Listen

Translate article

The retail trade and services are becoming the most dynamically developing sector of non-agricultural activity in Polish rural areas. State-owned and cooperative stores have been closed down and they were replaced mostly by private stores. There are more and more commercial outlets of various formats, including supermarket chains, discount stores and integrated chains. Despite the growing number of modern retail trade formats, traditional small-format, often referred to as the local market, is also really important. Retail chains in small towns and rural areas are mainly located in the zones of influence of larger cities. They affect many changes of spatial, social and economic character. Small towns and rural areas more and more frequently start to compete for further retail trade investments while noticing lots of benefits and costs of this process. The aim of the article is to show the scale of new retail investment in small towns and rural areas in Poland and to recognize the impact of locating discount chains and supermarkets in small towns and rural areas on the economic and social sphere of these places. In the territory of small towns transformations of the structure of trade can be observed, mainly as a result of changes in the consumer behaviour. In small towns, functional and spatial transformations related to the retail sector take mainly from the expansion of grocery supermarket chains. The future of small traditional stores in small towns and rural areas is uncertain. Despite the restrictions in terms of the diffusion of consumer behaviour trends from metropolises to their outer areas, transformations seem to be inevitable. This change process should, therefore, be studied systematically. Research devoted to this field is important from the point of view of choosing the location of new investments related to discount chains and of the strategy for the development of small towns and rural areas. Identification of consequences of the operation of discount chains in chosen rural areas and in small towns can impact the verification of the policy adopted by local authorities in relation to spatial planning and forming the functional structure.