The large tobacco warehouses of Agrinio were established south of the city, where there was abundant cheap land and easy access to the railway station. Most of the workers, though, resided north of the city. The availability of land was an important factor in their case as well, but so was the desire to establish distinct self-sufficient communities. The reason was that in the 1920s, when tobacco was king in Agrinio, a large majority of the workers in the warehouses were refugees from Asia Minor and Pontus. The arrival of 6,000 people in the aftermath of the Asia Minor disaster (1922) revitalised the city and supplied willing workers who were eager to work and rebuild their shattered lives.