The article is dedicated to the analysis of quantitative and qualitative changes occurred in the national trade from the 90s of the XX century. One of the most important changes is the change of institutional and organizational structure of the industry as a result of integration processes.The authors of the article have carried out a literary review of the category “trade center” and suggested their own interpretation of this definition based on the marginal utility theory and also assessed the dynamics and development factors of the trade networks development in the Russian Federation. In the article the methodic approach to the assessment of the effectiveness of trade center functioning is suggested.