Liberalization, economic crisis and reorganization of stores network in metropolitan areas of central and northern Italy 

There is not respite for Italian smaller retailers: the development of large distribution, encouraged by sector liberalization in 1998, and more recently the drop in consumption linked to the economic crisis started in 2008, have determined the closure a lot of small shops. This process is occurring with particular intensity in metropolitan areas of central and northern Italy that are the specific subject of this paper. We should not underestimate the shrinkage of the retail stores network because this issue also interferes with the territorial cohesion. 

Keywords: metropolitan areas, retail trade, demography of outlets, resilience.