Has the web become the next Main Street?

I continue to see countless ecommerce/fashion businesses show up in my box.  Some I have met with and others I have not.   What is interesting is many of these businesses are gaining some traction, not a huge amount but enough that they have built an audience around their individual models.  They are also making money. 

Certainly there has been some businesses in this vertical that have been explosive.  Most of those businesses have been funded for one reason or another and have had the ability to grow quickly and become big.  Just to name a few; Fab, Net-A-Porter, Shop-Bop. 

Is there room for others in each space? Sure but more than likely many of the businesses that are trying to take a small piece of each large sites marketshare will never get to be the size and scale of the leaders.  That doesn't mean that they are not successful.

Decades ago, on every small town or city street were Mom and Pop stores that carried products for the community.  One could be a womens clothing store, one could be the home furnishing stores, one could be just kids clothes or menswear.  Those businesses built loyal followers and provided a life style for the people that owned them.

Is the web becoming the next global Main street?  How many people have you talked to that tell you what their favorite website is that you have never even heard of.  Sometimes it is a brick and mortar store with a great site and sometimes it is just a blog that sells products.  It does not necessarily make sense for everyone to go out and raise money perhaps there are plenty of businesses who should create their own Mom and Pop store on the web and own it themselves.