Commerce can be included among the supports of the Apuan economic system, both because it generates 26% of the local GNP and 16 – 17% of general employment and on account of its pervasive distribution throughout the territory. Despite the difficult economic moment and the changing approach of the consumer in his choices, the number of commercial enterprises is on the increase, in some cases in a significant way, as concerns for example wholesale and detail dealing in products other than foodstuffs.

Small shops which had suffered a lot during the nineties with the influx of large scale distribution, have once again gone over the barrier of 4,000 units, a growth of 2.3% with respect to the year 1999. At present there are 20 local shops for every 1,000 residents. As well as that, subsequent to the Bersani reform, there has been a real explosion in the province of medium-sized structures, above all in foodstuffs.

Two trends have become evident in the last few years: on one hand there is the greater integration of small trading structures, above all in foodstuffs, offering typical local produce; and on the other a greater tendency to consider this sector no longer as a sort of zone of ‘refuge’, but as an area in which people can invest and innovate. This second trend has come about principally as a reaction to the incentives of the younger sections of the community, who are becoming more and more present in their choices.

A group of activities, to sum up, that in relation to their size and their ability to link in with local specialities, offer the consumer a high degree of flexibility and products that are now universally recognized.