A business owner who has sold furniture and antiques in Streatham town centre for 33 years has closed his iconic store.

Chris Baron, owner of Chris Baron Interiors in Streatham Hill, decided to shut his shop to focus on online trading, but denied succumbing to the High Road’s recent decline.

He said business owners had been waiting with “bated breath” for the completion of the town’s two main commercial developments – the Streatham Hub and the old Megabowl site – yet insisted the council’s slow progress had not affected his decision to leave.

He said: “I was working much harder and working longer hours for the same amount of revenue.

“In more recent years the young buying public have tended to buy online.”

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Mr Baron, who was one of a group of entrepreneurs who bought his shop four years ago, said the influx of similar shops had left trade “static” but said he thought footfall would soon increase.

He added: “There have been changes up and down but there are the same sorts of changes in all high streets.”