Cities too small to have discount stores

Abstract

One of the most dynamic retail branches today is that of discount stores, which have been increasing their market share through a strategy of offering low prices. As the result of a number of mergers, takeovers, and rapid organic growth, several major discount chains have developed nationwide sales ne tworks in Poland. They all have stores in many Polish cities, although the distribution of them is somewhat uneven. In this paper, the author attempts to analyze the growth patterns in this sector in small cities in Poland. Using an analysis of the size an d distribution of discount store chains in Poland as a starting point, the author examines the dynamics of this phenomenon, indicates the geographical factors affecting it, and compares small cities with and without discount stores in terms of their locati on and socioeconomic structure.