San Diego!

San Diego visit over the weekend: Network Cards? Yea, we got one from "HiRo" RAM: Nothing current, just old returns. CPUS: Nope. Motherboards? One model, none on display. Power Supplies? Nope. Hard Drives? Nope. SSDs? Nope. 2' Ethernet Cables? Yea, about 20 in a bin. Component level parts (resistors, caps, diodes) Nope.

bluetooth headsets: total of ten on the racks.
toner: none
paper: a few boxes of basic copy paper only, no quality stuff
perfume and similar items: display cases full, all at 80% off
candy and cheap c-ap: all over the checkout line

Truly a sad sight. And i'm one who still misses Quement (san Jose), WeirdStuff (sunnyvale) and gasp (radio shack).

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The few Radio Shacks still around are owned and operated by Sprint. It's too bad because back in the day, like in the 1990s and earlier, they were the place to get small electronics parts.

The whole "maker movement" and DIY scene has really picked up steam over the last few years w/ Adafruit Industries, the Raspberry Pi Foundation (and similar SBC makers like Pine64 and ODROID), 3D printing with Thingaverse files, the "hand-built" mechanical keyboard scene, DIY home security cameras, etc., etc., etc.

Fry's Electronics was the last chain hold out for miscellaneous parts like this. Best Buy and others don't carry anything like that. Sans independent shops, your only option is to buy everything online. At least the prices are always cheaper anyway...

Both San Diego stores are a ghost town. Fry's was the only place I could go to get parts for a computer on the same day. Best Buy s—s for computer parts. Really sad.

Thread regarding Fry's Electronics layoffs

San Diego!

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