Before 1989, the retail landscape in Slovakia and the Czech Republic looked very different from today. A new collaborative study compares the transformation of retail in both countries, from a fragmented retail sector through the arrival of international chains to market consolidation, showing how changes in retail have also reshaped urban spaces.
Following the collapse of the centrally planned economy, the retail sector underwent a profound transformation. The authors identify three main stages: atomisation, internationalisation, and consolidation. These changes extended far beyond store ownership. The size, location, and formats of retail outlets evolved, along with consumers’ shopping habits.
An international research team, including Kristína Bilková and Katarína Macejová (Čuláková) from the Institute of Geography of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, compared the common and divergent trajectories of retail transformation in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The study also examines the market entry strategies of foreign retail chains, their spatial diffusion, and the emergence of hypermarkets, discount stores, and shopping centres.
The research highlights that retail is not an isolated economic sector. Its spatial organisation shapes people’s everyday travel patterns, the functions of urban centres, and access to goods across different regions. Changes in retail networks are therefore also important issues in urban geography, mobility, and consumption studies.
Why it matters
- For cities: the spatial distribution of retail outlets affects city centres, urban peripheries, and everyday mobility.
- For consumers: comparing the Czech Republic and Slovakia reveals why two societies with similar historical backgrounds have not necessarily followed identical paths of transformation.
Publication: Kunc, J. – Križan, F. – Bilková, K. – Novotná, M. – Charvátová, K. – Čuláková, K. (2025). Post-socialist retail worlds: common and different paths of Czech and Slovak market transformation. History of Retailing and Consumption, 11(2), 111–141. SJR: Q1.
Link: https://doi.org/10.1080/2373518X.2025.2602099
The article was supported by research conducted within the following projects:
- APVV-20-0432 — Suburbanisation: Community, Identity and Everyday Life
- APVV-20-0302 — Alternative Food Networks: From Consumerism to Sustainable Consumption
- VEGA 2/0006/24 — Regions and Changes in Their Social Climate During Crisis and Post-Crisis Periods
Prepared by: Tomáš Goga | With the assistance of GPT-6 Astra.
