Is Mike Ashley the only person on a mission to keep bricks-and-mortar retailing alive?

I dreamed I saw a monster advancing through a devastated town centre, mighty footsteps shaking semi-derelict buildings. I awoke in my armchair to find I had been reading a news item about Sports Direct tycoon Mike Ashley’s latest gambit: buying the 60-shop Evans Cycles chain out of administration for just £8 million, to follow his swoop on House of Fraser’s tottering department stores group in August. Say what you like about Ashley’s ruthless opportunism — he’s already said himself that half the Evans outlets will have to close — he’s the only big beast out there who’s on a mission to keep bricks-and-mortar retailing alive.

But in this era of cycling mania, why isn’t the 97-year-old, well-recognised Evans brand enjoying a golden era, rather than gasping in intensive care? Perhaps it has suffered the curse of private equity, ownership having passed through two sets of financiers’ hands in the past decade.