A study examined training in the retail trade in Spain. Employment, work, and training patterns in Spain's retail sector were researched, and case studies of five retail firms were conducted. Two retailers were too small to afford their own training organization but had formulated personnel policies providing for training. The third case was a firm whose general policy had traditionally linked staff training with total quality and the strategies used to achieve it, and the remaining two cases were large organizations that allocate substantial sums to staff training. Training was generally beginning to be regarded as an important element in firm restructuring and/or expansion. In all cases, training policies/programs were planned by top management or jointly by management and personnel department. Only one firm had conducted a systematic training needs assessment. At all five firms, all categories of employees involved in selling had access to training. Quality of training varied greatly from firm to firm; however, training quality and funds allocated for training were increasing in all five firms. The two largest firms received direct subsidies, two firms financed their own training program, and the smallest firm used an outside organization that received funds. (Contains 52 tables/figures.) (MN)