A sad day: RIP 'Shack
ajward
Posts: 1,130
Seems all our local Radio Shack stores are closing and (rumor has it) all the western stores due to poor sales. I shall miss them dearly!
On a bright note, they're selling most everything in the store at 90% off!
Armed with my trusty Visa card, I went shopping this morning and scored:
A Bluetooth module, couple of gyro's, an Emic2, every color of EL wire and tape plus power supplies, 2-speech recording modules, a couple of project enclosures, 2-Dual Relay Board kits, several circuit boards, a 500 pack of resistors and every IC socket they had left.
Total damage was $30.88. Savings of over $250!
I may head back tomorrow... the component drawers still have stuff them. :-)
@
On a bright note, they're selling most everything in the store at 90% off!
Armed with my trusty Visa card, I went shopping this morning and scored:
A Bluetooth module, couple of gyro's, an Emic2, every color of EL wire and tape plus power supplies, 2-speech recording modules, a couple of project enclosures, 2-Dual Relay Board kits, several circuit boards, a 500 pack of resistors and every IC socket they had left.
Total damage was $30.88. Savings of over $250!
I may head back tomorrow... the component drawers still have stuff them. :-)
@
Comments
I seem to have been reading about the last death throes of Radio Shack for years now.
http://www.businessinsider.com/list-of-radioshack-stores-closing-2017-3
We just visited the Bremerton store, stocked up on $380 worth of parts for $40. Although when you consider RS prices are overpriced the real savings is quite a bit lower, but still worth the trip I think.
But miss one who is (trying to) closing (close) in Forest Hills.
And FYI, I'm in Astoria, and that's the first. Second one is in Manhattan. Missed one is also in Queens.....
We'll give you half of it.
I tried that in the one in the Mall on Sixth AVE. Let's just they had empty pockets........
If everyone scores like Amanda and returns the goods to Parallax, we can right that terrible wrong. I'm sure Ken's good for the postage.
-Phil
I can imagine more challenges than this, like which parts to stock, whether or not there are enough "Phils" in PT to make it worthwhile, and how to manage the inventory. It could be done, but I think it would be a lot of effort for a little return.
https://www.yelp.com/biz/torrance-electronics-torrance
Sadly, a smaller mom & pop electronics shop did close down recently. https://www.yelp.com/biz/signal-electronics-torrance
Not to brag, but I also live within spitting distance of the amazing monthly TRW swap meet:
That is a big issue, you folks in California have it all when it comes to electronics. Like minded people, son's and daughter's of engineer's and developer's. You live, eat and sleep thinking circuits. Hence many hobbyists in a general vicinity, bigger overall market.
How's is the housing market?
What's the COL?
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2017/03/22/retailers-closing-stores-sears-kmart-jcpenney-macys-mcsports-gandermountian/99492180/
As more people gain confidence in online shopping, it makes less sense to them to fight the traffic getting to a mall. I can order stuff from DigiKey and have in here by Priority Mail in two days. The shipping is less than the money I'd spend on fuel to drive to the nearest RS mall store.
Sometimes, though, I need something right now, like a battery holder or a switch; and the local mom'n'pop RS franchise store used to be able to accommodate me. But it's getting harder find stuff among their dwindling parts stock. Yet, they still seem to hang on from their battery and computer cable sales. I'm not sure how, though.
-Phil
A house near me in San Jose (close to Xilinx) with 1500 sq ft, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, one car garage, 8k lot just went on the market for $1,048,800 had one open house, and it's already sale pending. No idea how much it sold for. Minimal upgrades - built in 1948 and still has original cabinetry and wooden flooring. As you go north the prices go higher and higher. (The latest tax assessment was $53k ;-)
They range from supplying old junk like 555 timers and TTL logic, to modern day Raspberry Pi/Arduino related things. To the "serious professional" Radio Spares.
Want a capacitor on a Saturday morning? No problem.
I guess it helps to have a couple of technological universities near by.
If these stores close, I'm moving to Shenzhen : https://www.freetronics.com.au/pages/the-ultimate-electronics-hobbyists-guide-to-shenzhen#.WNlZtTuGNhE
Tried...Blank stare.
Probably my last visit today to the store that I had been going to since the 70's.
12Volt SLA 7AH $8.00. (May go back to get another).
11 pack of resistors @ 0.19 each. Never can have too many.
Also heard Payless Shoes is shutting down.
Over the past six weeks I've ordered more components from Tayda Electronics in Colorado than from everyone else combined. Their selection isn't as broad as Mouser or DigiKey, by any stretch, but for the the common parts they carry, it's pretty hard to beat their prices anywhere. Shipping is honest. The parts are real. (Power semiconductors from China are curiously missing copper. Not so Tayda.)
No surprise there. The one and only pair off shoes I bought there fell apart in three months and they didn't cost much less than a top brand name.
How much is caused by the internet...
...and how much is caused by poor store inventory (or inventory you can't find), clueless/rude clerks (if they exist), and high prices?
I gave up on Sears a long time ago. My last visit to KMart was a nightmare, didn't buy anything, some merchandise (shoes) were stacked (not shelved) 4-5 boxes high. How was I supposed to look through a mountain of shoes?
The closest RS (one of those closing) was always good about stocking adapters, batteries, solder, tips, wire, etc. Electronic parts, not so much, although I suspect there was quite a bit of shoplifting going on (empty packages).
Why drive to the store (because you can't rely on the online stock quantities) to find you only get 30-40% of the parts that you need?
Not to mention the loud music after it became a Sprint/RS mess.
It's ironic to me that, with the big STEM education push, kids may not be able to find parts and/or kits locally.
I second buying from Tayda. No problems there.
Walter
40 miles south, Silicon Valley -- Yesterday morning I suddenly realized we were out of an exotic op-amp needed to complete a job that has to be shipped today. I placed a will-call order with Linear Tech and drove to Milpitas to pick it up. Past the Tesla plant in Fremont, off at the SR237 exit where there used to be the ranch land and fields of strawberries. Past the huge Cisco complex and the Sandisk facility. Linear Tech distribution warehouse is a tucked into a quiet techno side boulevard with Analog Devices across the street, IXYS Semi next door and a host of a other techies. Out in back and in through a plastic curtain stands a towering chainlink cage with anti static warnings and staff in lab coats. Down the corridor past the break room, stop at a gate and choose a doorbell button to press for for your choice of e-commerce or samples pick-up. Very friendly, very efficient, but not your mom and pop store.
Mucho envy!
Going to read it again later tonight for a bedtime story, sweet dreams.
Heavenly!
I'm destin to live here till I don't. If my place could sell for a million plus, or I hit the lottery, I'll go to CA for a visit, if by chance it's through CO, I might try reliving the 70s.
Think of how much shipping you can pay for with all of the money that you're saving on housing.