I did enjoy spending ages in record shops and in Second hand book shops. Both are still widely available if a bit more niche and less widespread than before.
Nostalgia for Woolworth's, debenhams someone even mentioned Burtons is just silly. Thet were all shit and would, in their day, have been seen as the big corporate b*****d putting local establishments out of business.
The much lauded local butcher and baker were usually shit and worse than the big supermarkets that replaced them. There was a range of quality with the supermarkets landing right in the middle. Some above average ones were lost but the very best still remain.
When i was a youngster a filter coffee was a sophisticated treat and maxwell house in styrofoam was the usual. Pizza land or a bad chinese was the hight of culinary adventure. My local high street (near end only) has four or five independent coffee bars, a nepalese, lebanese, vitnamese, 2 curry houses, 4 chinese, 3 pizza shops, not counting the italian restaurant, a greek taverna, an old style pub with live music, 2 more wine bar style pubs, a cocktail bar, a bookshop, a toyshop, a baker, an independent value retailer that sells random shite,a draper, 3 barbers, 2 nail bars and a live music venue. If i go the other way in 10 mins walk i have 2 german and two uk supermarkets, home bargains (x2) , b&m, poundland, tk max, shoe zone, several places to fix the car, a full range of drive thru (sic) fast food and chain coffee outlets.
For browsing music, online is a different but much better experience than record shops. You can actually hear the music before buying and don't have to trek from say, aberdeen to Edinburgh's cockburn street to get a reasonable selection of dub, then take your chances on the two or three records you can afford. I don't think online replicates or improves old bookshops.
I live in a largish growing city, and the city centre has bits that are boarded up and a shiny new shopping centre with expensive designer outlets.
If people can save money on every day food and clothing and not buy it through ridiculously inefficient and expensive old fashioned supply chains they have money to spend elsewhere. That's partly how and why we are shifting to a service economy.
Not all of the places that were good for old fashioned retail will be good for service provision. Plenty old market towns have reinvented themselves as cultural centres. Plenty haven't though.
But not everywhere is in decline. There's some winners in among the losers. Change isn't necessarily bad.