"desolate" means the opposite of "crowded".
> The shops aren't deserted, but it's a different crowd.
So the shops are missing the kind of people you would like to see shopping, but full of a "different" kind of people. What kind of people are those?
No, it also means:
: showing the effects of abandonment and neglect : DILAPIDATED
> What kind of people are those?
Bums, poor people, slob tourists.
That's a curiously selective reading of that definition.
> Bums, poor people, slob tourists.
And who are these desired, non "Bum", non-tourist wealthy people you wish were shopping there still?
"desolate" means the opposite of "crowded".
> The shops aren't deserted, but it's a different crowd.
So the shops are missing the kind of people you would like to see shopping, but full of a "different" kind of people. What kind of people are those?