Diffusion Processes in the Czech Retail

Development of retail in the Czech Republic in the period of economic transformation aft er 1989 went through crucial changes including both privatization process in the fi rst half of the 1990s and introduction of foreign retail concerns to the Czech market in the second half of the decade. Th e latter phase of transformation of the Czech retail infl uenced significantly formation of new network structure of retail. Its origin is related to process of spatial innovation diff usion of large-format sale concepts (super? and hypermarkets, discounts, shopping centres etc.) into the Czech environment, which took place during relatively short period. As presented by some studies (Shopping monitor, GfK Praha) adaptation of these concepts in the Czech Republic ranks among the highest in comparison with other post-communist countries in Europe. The most frequent type of diff usion was expansive hierarchical diffusion typical of hypermarkets, hobbymarkets, other specialised outlets and shopping centres. In case of diff usion of some discount markets expansive contact diff usion was recorded with a characteristic innovation wave from the west to the east (home country being Germany, see fi g. 2).