The paper deals with the development of retail centres in Zadar. Types of retail centres are classified on the basis of the type of business outlets and functions. Four main types of retail centres are: shopping centres, hypermarkets, specialized hypermarkets and shopping centres – hypermarkets. Typology based on the location of centres is also developed. Functions of retail centres are analyzed based on the results gathered by a survey conducted in two retail centres, namely City Galleria – Trgovinski centar Relja and Mercator centre.