City and town centre retail has long been propped up by the "grey pound", older shoppers who still prefer to visit shops. A generation who retired early on good pensions. Of course Covid has grounded many of them and accelerated the demise.
Next time you are in a city or town centre, just make a mental note of the average age of the shoppers. I guarantee that most of them will be over 50 and many of those much older still.
The Internet appealed to the generation behind them, the cash rich / time poor. In work, but no time to spend their money, and the youngest adults are so locked in to online activity that it's just a natural extension of their routine.
Unless or until the "oldies" come out again, the shops they frequented are up various creeks with no visible means of propulsion.
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