The decline of backstreet shops

On Saturday I wrote about the decline of backstreet shops.

Talking Shop; An Oral History of Retailing in the Market Harborough Area During the 20th Century by Sam Mullins and David Stockdale gives us some figures for the town:

From 1900 to 1912 the number of suburban shops nearly trebled to thirty-five, and by 1922 a peak of thirty-seven had been reached. This number stayed roughly constant through the decades between the wars.

Today, though the town is much larger, the figure must be around half a dozen.