Surprise, surprise...

The same thing has happened in my smallish English city. The merchants bleated, so did the conservatives, but the council went ahead with pedestrianisation and now we're all better off. And all the concern-trolling about people with mobility problems losing access has been conclusively proven to have been bullshit. Buses, taxis and mobility services can still drop them off right in front of the shops. The only difference now is that they can cross the road with almost no risk of being hit by a car.

so closing streets limits sales by amazon.com and the like? would not be surprised if the push for the opposite

Twenty million anonymized transactions ... led to a 9.5% increase in retail

I wish they put a number to that stat. Because even if we're talking about an extra dollar of spending, we're talking millions of dollars (euros), which is significant.

Retail stores everywhere should really force their local government to make street closures to car traffic a reality if they want to boost sales and keep online shopping from destroying their revenue.

It's a great idea, but it can get complicated quickly.

For it to work elsewhere, you need parking spaces away from the main streets, free shuttles, or pretty decent public transit. They also need to keep the streets open during certain hours so supply trucks can drop things off. Also, what if there are highrise apartments with underground parking lots facing the main street? How would they come and go?

In San Diego, the Gaslamp District is a prime example of an area that should be pedestrian-only. Yet when they did try it, the city yanked it back with the lame excuse that the road blocking bollard mechanisms cost too much (https://thesandiegosun.com/gaslamp-quarter-car-free-zone-ended/).

But it's a worthwhile experiment. Downtown retail in a lot of cities is empty and boarded up. Making those streets pedestrian-only is a good way to revive them and bring life back.