ABSTRACT
The previous chapter was concerned with the development of the trade forms, which we consider to be a specific feature of the transformation period; this chapter discusses the processes affecting the network of regular fixed-space stores occurring at the same time. As the results of the survey mentioned in the previous chapter show (Figure 4.2, p. 80), while about half of all purchases in St Petersburg in 1997 were made from kiosks and small retailers, in about 40 per cent of cases merchandise was bought through regular fixed-space stores. The lack of trading space in the fixed stores was one of the problems resolved in the early years of transformation by the introduction of kiosks and small retail forms. So, by charting the development of the network of fixed-space facilities in St Petersburg during the transformation period we can observe how the city became spatially saturated with this type of retail and services facilities. It is on this process that we focus in this chapter. In doing so, we draw on findings and analysis from our previous publications, which have been updated to cover the period to 2002 and rethought in the context of our present research (Axenov, Brade and Bondarchuk, 1997; Axenov, 2001).
