In the extant literature, transition economies are sporadically addressed under the moniker of emerging economies and often only through calls for more contextualized research. Moreover, not all transition economies are emerging, as attempts at rapid transformation have resulted in economic deterioration as well. Yet, we lack models that approach the coordination of market and nonmarket strategies in contexts experiencing ongoing economic malaise. Accordingly, we examined the institutional and market strategies of Frikom, a regional ice cream producer profiting in the demoralized transition economy of Serbia, to identify antecedents to socio-cultural demoralization, elaborate a reconstructed view of nonmarket strategy in a demoralized transition economy, and conceptualize an integrated alignment model for firms competing in demoralized transitional economic environments.