The paper is an attempt to evaluate the costs of modernizing trade and in particular to evaluate the size and directions of investment expenditures undertaken for that purpose. Thes analysis cimprises also the exploatation costs in conjunction with the process of maintaining a utilization readiness of the durable production means which are at the disposal of enterprises. The scope of the analysis comprises the State Enterprises MHD in the voivodship of Poznań. In spite of this strictly limited scope of study, the undertaken analysis permits to draw a more general conclusion (from the economic point of view) on the trade modernization drive in the years of 1960—1965. The authors put forward some observations and remarks concerning the relation between trade modernization and the economic development of a region, the meeting of trade requirements in the modernization drive and finally the influence of a broader trade basis on the level and structure of commodity turnover costs. Digitalizacja i deponowanie archiwalnych zeszytów RPEiS sfinansowane przez MNiSW w ramach realizacji umowy nr 541/P-DUN/2016