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What Happened to America's Electronics Stores? The 8-Bit Guy
- Thread starter Loudninja
- Start date
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The fundamental reason for their death is that the increased complexity of circuits means that you're better off buying from Mouser, RS, Wagner, etc. There's no business model for brick and mortar electronic parts because online sources give you not only a better range but also better quality parts and parts with very specific dimensions that are easy to sort and find.
When I did a DIY audio amplifier, I needed very specific capacitors with specific size limitations. There's no way I'm getting that from Jaycar, a brick and mortar retailer. They just don't have enough retail space to hold every item known to man.
Australia's electronics store, Dick Smith Electronics, went the same way where they became just another random retailer dealing with lowish end electronics. There's no market in these low end electronics if you can sell volume and they couldn't. Honestly speaking, their demise was pretty organic.
When I did a DIY audio amplifier, I needed very specific capacitors with specific size limitations. There's no way I'm getting that from Jaycar, a brick and mortar retailer. They just don't have enough retail space to hold every item known to man.
Australia's electronics store, Dick Smith Electronics, went the same way where they became just another random retailer dealing with lowish end electronics. There's no market in these low end electronics if you can sell volume and they couldn't. Honestly speaking, their demise was pretty organic.
Some of these were regional but the pictures definitely bring back memories. Each store had a different feel, was targeted toward a slightly different audience, and all were fun to run around inside and look at the stock. You knew that Radio Shack would have a limited software selection but you could play with some super expensive headphones or TVs, you knew Toys R Us would have lots of rarer video games and stations to play demos at, at Circuit City you knew you'd get bugged by an associate every 3 minutes inside the store.
A lot of the electronics stores weren't really directly affected by online shopping competition, but by acquisitions and consolidations. Best Buy ate up Musicland (Sam Goody, Suncoast, Media Play), Barnes & Noble gobbled Babbages, etc. Those were in turn affected by Amazon in the 2000s.
Running around the racks at Media Play was an experience; when they began remodeling along with everyone else to a more "open floor" design it really did feel like the beginning of the end.
Am very happy we have a Microcenter nearby, it's been essential for so many things.
A lot of the electronics stores weren't really directly affected by online shopping competition, but by acquisitions and consolidations. Best Buy ate up Musicland (Sam Goody, Suncoast, Media Play), Barnes & Noble gobbled Babbages, etc. Those were in turn affected by Amazon in the 2000s.
Running around the racks at Media Play was an experience; when they began remodeling along with everyone else to a more "open floor" design it really did feel like the beginning of the end.
Am very happy we have a Microcenter nearby, it's been essential for so many things.
God I miss Fry's. Even with the horrible customer service, Bait-and-Switch sales and shady characters that hung around my local store.
The PC shop that my family used, and I interned at for a few years and learned PC and OEM laptop building, is still in business after 30 years, but even they are feeling the crunch of the market. They have shifted largely to Clevo laptops and Intel NUCs. Both of which offer barely any upgradability outside of RAM and Storage, if you aren't stuck with a soldered internal system. I remember building the first laptop in the store which was when they used ASUS laptops and we installed everything besides the MB (yes, Intel used to have a line of strictly laptop CPUs with an entirely different socket that you put in like a tower CPU). I'm honestly surprised they are still in business, but I know they have a loyal customer base and can offer systems to meet specific needs along with people wanting to shop local.
Beautiful.Some of these were regional but the pictures definitely bring back memories. Each store had a different feel, was targeted toward a slightly different audience, and all were fun to run around inside and look at the stock. You knew that Radio Shack would have a limited software selection but you could play with some super expensive headphones or TVs, you knew Toys R Us would have lots of rarer video games and stations to play demos at, at Circuit City you knew you'd get bugged by an associate every 3 minutes inside the store.
A lot of the electronics stores weren't really directly affected by online shopping competition, but by acquisitions and consolidations. Best Buy ate up Musicland (Sam Goody, Suncoast, Media Play), Barnes & Noble gobbled Babbages, etc. Those were in turn affected by Amazon in the 2000s.
Running around the racks at Media Play was an experience; when they began remodeling along with everyone else to a more "open floor" design it really did feel like the beginning of the end.
Am very happy we have a Microcenter nearby, it's been essential for so many things.
Casual reminder that 8 Bit Guy loves to openly carry assault rifles to troll people who want gun controls after mass shootings, and he also wrote the George Floyd protests off as being an inconvenience.
I wonder if there is a way for the west to create these sorts of big electronic parts mall like the ones they have in Shenzen? There are plenty of DIY enthusiasts in western countries but there doesn't seem to be the right physical places that sell these. People end up buying online because of it, but I wonder if there are these sorts of malls available, would that still be the case?
OP
OP
Internet shopping killed them. Same will happen for the rest of retail over time.
Wow, Jesus.
Wow, Jesus.
Fckkkk another one. Such a shame. I thought his contents are always interesting. Can't be supporting asshole like this tho.
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