Puddy_Tat
naturally fluffy
dunno really
think there's a combination of circumstances, including
the supermarket / shopping centre boom (and supermarkets moving in to selling more than just food and basic household stuff) which started in the 70s but grew in the 80s
changes in shopping habits - gradually shrinking number of 'housewives' who had time / inclination to call in at several small shops in the course of a shopping trip, people with jobs more likely to do one 'big shop' (at supermarket and often with car) a week
increasing number of people without jobs and reducing spending
occasional property booms during the tory boom and bust cycle, so shop rents / leases might go up a lot. most old fashioned small shops that are still trading are probably either on very long leases or own the place outright.
redevelopment of housing areas / demographic change - existing customers moving away to new towns / suburbs, some inner city areas becoming university student housing areas and so on (running a shop 52 weeks a year when the customers are only around for about 30 weeks a year may not work)
was there a particular generation of shopkeepers who all retired within a relatively short space of time? may just be coincidence, but seem to remember a lot of the small shops near where i grew up all seemed to be in the generation just that bit older than my parents (maybe setting up business in the post-war years?) so would have hit retirement age during the 80s.
