Albania, the retail champ, has half its workforce in sales. Patterns of change Personal consumption growth has accompanied the change in systems. The communist system distributed from centralized production areas - competition had no influence and efficient allocation of production resources didn't matter. After communism fell, trade liberalization, private enterprise and private property were accompanied by widespread availability of foreign products, which were often cheaper and better. Real domestic currency appreciation in most of the countries only helped the retail boom.
Significant changes hit supply structures as well.
Small retailers opened private companies, and fossilized chains, locked in rigid distribution patterns, fell apart. In transition countries, the retail sector privatized the fastest. The first group restructured their old distribution systems the fastest. Privatization and the creation of many small private units puts these countries on par with Western Europe in the early sixties. The second group has had modest restructuring.