You were lucky, most of the shops by me are gone, though A1 Radio is still around, and Ron Tomlin survives barely. But the others are long gone, Hamrad, which still survives in Cape town apparently, though even the Maplin store there decided to rebrand and get away from paying for the name. All the other smaller ones gone, though I still have a big pile of databooks from Basic Electronics, which was just walking distance from me.
However there are new entrants, Mantech, having figured out retail was sort of worth it instead of wholesale only, and DIY Electronics, selling kits and such. Still run into the old A1 and Hamrad staff, though many are now retired or dead, and more lost jobs this last period as well.
But as to stuff, it was often cheaper and easier to order from the UK, dealing with Cricklewoods and Sendz, along with Maplin themselves direct via post. At least there you would get a copied datasheet or manual with the stuff more often than not.