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I'm sure the general increase in town centre rates/rents hasn't helped the niche shops.
I guess where I am I am lucky.Norwich has had various shops come and go but the oldies, thus far and long may they continue, have stuck around.Kerrison's Toys which is not in the centre of the city as such but accessible has been going as long as I can remember and has a pretty decent model kit and wargaming section upstairs.Langley's Toy Shop, which is about as central as you can get, appears to be going from strength to strength and is pretty good at looking at the market, boardgames, model kits, wargaming stuff - probably the most comprehensive.For less traditional model making stuff and more roleplay and wargaming there is the very long standing Games Room which stocked GW before Norwich had a GW. Athena Games which has bookable gaming space as well as hosting CCG, boardgame and wargame tournaments etc. Recently a new little shop sprung up in The Games Table, which is another bookable table space with stock of games as well. Finally, there is also the Great Eastern Model Railway shop for all of your train needs.So there is a relative abundance and I will not complain - but I think there is evidence here that the shops some areas used to see, like the little one in Farnham in Surrey, that were pure model shops, may well be on their way out.