London ? Anyone searching for a sepia-tinted rugby photo, antique cuff links or a precious piece of art deco jewelry at the Antiquarius Center had better come fast.

Blink and it will be gone. The dozens of diverse, very British shops on the chic King’s Road in Chelsea face eviction to make way for Anthropologie, an American-based chain planning an American fashion emporium, much like the stores it operates in St. Louis and Miami Beach.

“There used to be three antique centers in Chelsea; soon there will be none,” said Sue Norman, who has sold hand-painted 19th-Century china here since 1972. “I think it’s very sad. It seems the younger generation much prefers American-style things to English style.”

The pending loss of the Antiquarius Center is part of the wider, inexorable Americanization of Britain, where rich veins of eccentricity are being snipped as American customs catch on.

Remember the dapper English gentleman? Shoes polished and dressed to the nines? He’s often found in blue jeans, an open shirt, and sneakers these days.

And those bad English teeth, neglected for years? Tooth-whitening is catching on, a l’americaine. There has been a surge of cosmetic surgeries as more women — and teenagers — embrace the Hollywood ideal and have their breasts enhanced and wrinkles Botoxed. Pillbox psychiatry is catching on too, with record numbers gobbling antidepressants, and Britons are turning to fast food at such an alarming pace that obesity among young people is reaching epidemic proportions.

A Prozac-popping, surgically enhanced nation of overweight slobs? Sometimes it seems dear olde England could almost be the 51st state.

The trend toward Americanization is not new: In 1925, Time Magazine reported that dollar-rich American financiers had invaded London, infusing the postwar British capital with “American engineering and American habits and customs.” But it’s picked up pace in the last decade, said Mark Glancy, a history professor at the University of London who has written about the impact of Hollywood films on the British psyche.

“It’s much more Americanized now, because it’s so much more affluent,” he said. “People’s purchasing power has gone up so dramatically in the last 10 or 15 years that they’ve become very caught up in the American consumer lifestyle.”

It’s hard to tell how far the Americanization will go, and whether it’s only skin deep, essentially a fashion statement.

After all, church attendance is still very low in Britain compared with the United States, and U.S. sports have not caught on — nothing can dent Britain’s passion for soccer, rugby and cricket. Tea remains very popular despite the proliferation of U.S.-style coffee bars.