Specialist shops and boutiques growing on the high street everywhere

I am reposting Andy Knutt's post from Somerset Business as follow, as it looks like Frome has been ahead of the game again:

Health food shops, tea rooms, arts and crafts stores and old fashioned sweet shops are replacing traditional high-street businesses such as cafes and takeaways, according to a new survey by insurer Simply Business. The research, based on 30,000 independent retailers, found that the proportion of pubs had fallen by 20% over the last year. Cafes were down by 11%, sandwich bars by 16% and takeaways by 3%. Meanwhile, the proportion of independent fabric shops has increased by 44%, while arts and crafts shops rose by 29%, and home baking shops rose by 50%.

http://www.simplybusiness.co.uk/about-us/press-releases/high-street-2012/?goback=.gde_2585095_member_159299221