UK High Street still struggling in 2011

I think the UK may have far more retail businesses than our economy can support, especially when so much shopping can now be done online. There are lots of "me too" clones within walking distance of each other. OK, the proximity keeps prices down (a bit) but doesn't seem to extend the choice range much.

Individual businesses seem to be able to defy the odds though. In our village, the same butchers premises have been occupied over the years by 3 different owners. The first 2 owners never made a go of their businesses, the third seems to be consistently busy even though we're not a "posh" village and he sells upmarket meat at prices to match.