The AM Forum

Another electronics and parts retailer vanished overnight.  If you live in CA or TX and a few other scattered locations (39 stores),  you may recognize the name.  There weren't any of these on the east coast or in the NE.  If you don't know it, think of a Radio Shack the size of a Walmart.

Never much liked shopping at Fry's, but when there was a need for the odd bit of solder wick, a tool, a miscellaneous cap or resistor or switch or computer part, whatever … it beat waiting a few days for the UPS truck.

The days of having a place where you can walk in with a list and walk out with parts and supplies are vanishing ..

I miss the Frys of old.  Many fond memories of building computers with parts scored from there.

There is no retailer within 120 miles of me for a resistor now.  Sad.

It was time, though.  I went to the Frys in San Jose and Concord about 18 months ago.  The one in Concord you could have emptied into a 26 foot uhaul.

I watched a guy walk out with a subwoofer.  Nobody cared.  The employees looked up, watched him.

A shame, but buggy whip stores are pretty hard to find now as well.

--Shane
KD6VXI

No great loss, the place looked like a Russian grocery store for the last year...empty shelves. :P

However, a little South of me in Tucson is a REAL mom-n-pop electronics store.  Elliott Electronics.

Large, lots of well-sorted parts, good prices.

And, an aircraft salvage store next door! :D

73DG

Cannot imagine its easy for any conventional retailer to stay in operation today.  The reality is that you can purchase any part on eBay and have it in a week.
Every year when I use to make the annual pilgrimage out to the Hamvention would always arrive at least a day early to hit Fair Radio in Lima and Mid-West Electronic Surplus in Fairborn and know from experience that I will spend a bunch of money at both stores.
 Think maybe one of the advantages to both stores is they are located in places that are somewhat low rent and not very desirable so perhaps the overhead for them is low, that along with both stores being online and are great for doing mail order.
But the big thing was the Hamvention and with it being canceled again have to wonder how much it has affected the bottom line of both?
Don’t know about Fry’s having never been there but do know that Radio Shack was nothing like it was at one time and that the last ten years or so that it was still in business I had not gone there being they had nothing I wanted so in some ways cannot see how they lasted as long as they did.
Just hope that someday we can put all this Covid craziness behind us and maybe return to having Ham fest again.
Also have to wonder if Dayton, or now Xenia will be as big as it was after being suspended for two years now?
 

We have a place here in Connecticut called "Cables and Connectors", that seems to be thriving. It appears to be "family owned" i.e not a chain. They've got a good selection of parts and tools available right there in the building, and you can order from their website. Obviously you won't find any 4-1000's or plate chokes in there - it's entirely modern electronics - but they've actually got a good stock of semiconductors, resistors, and capacitors, as well as perf-board, enclosures, wire, and such. Much like what Radio Shack used to be. Every time I've been in there they seemed to be doing a brisk business. Unfortunately - even though Connecticut's a small state - I don't manage a trip to their physical store very often, since it's quite out of the way for me, but I order quite a bit of stuff from them. I'm very happy to see a business like that doing well.

https://www.cablesandconnectors.com/

I just went there yesterday Bill, its not that far from me so its a good way to restock my contact cleaners and computer accessories, connectors, tools etc. And when I need a small component right away its nice. They even have quite an array of small kits, some of them radio related. Its not like the old neighborhood Lafayette store, and their prices are not as good as online, but its great to have them around so I support them. Its great that they actually have enough traffic to keep in business. And don't forget to go to Doogies right down the street, especially on Fridays they always have a fish-n-chips or shrimp-n-chips for 3 bucks off, or you can get a 16 inch chili dog  ;D.
Larry

  Hi, Larry. It's been probably a year since I've been there. If I was still working in South Windsor, I'd probably head down there after work on occasion. Working out here in the "Quiet Corner", heading down that way after work means a long drive and  getting into rush-hour traffic.
  But, Sylvia will follow me anywhere if there's fish and shrimp nearby. With a good restaurant around, I could take her to a hamfest in Siberia.

Yep, a dying breed. Cables and Connectors is a great place for modern parts on the busy Berlin Tpke next to MacDonald's in Newington, CT.  I got talking with the owner -  a guy of about 65-ish.  He certainly knows his stuff when it comes to parts and retailing. I complimented him on his very wide selection of parts and pledged my patronage.  If you look deeper you will find all kinds of more obscure things too.

A builder could actually go in there with a long parts list and go home with enough stuff to complete a project. Hope he stays in biz for a long time. Puts Radio Shack of recent years to shame.

T

  Yes indeed, I've always figured that the survival of that business is mostly due to the business smarts of the owner. Otherwise, it's got to be a tough go - not only has the internet taken over, and Digikey and Mouser rule that roost, but not that many people do component-level electronics anymore.
  It's a fantasy that resonates with most of us; imagine being able to browse through a place like that, but stocked with tubes and sockets and mod transformers and air-variables? But, the pigs have flown, the unicorns have vanished, and here we are.

Man, I would be content to just be able to go to a Ham Fest and walk the isles and browse the tables again. eBay is about the only fix I can get these days in the homebuilding habit.

I hear ya Ray.....   This Saturday, Feb 27. 2021, is the Dalton, Georgia fest.  It DID NOT get canceled.  https://www.facebook.com/events/624779201744768

I will attend with a few of the local hams from the Marietta area.  Come on down!  Who knows, you might even find an RME-69 to take home and restore! It is finally getting warmer down here.  Today we got up to 76F!

 Also upcoming is the Savannah, GA, hamfest on April 24, 2021.  http://coastalamateurradiosociety.net/wpW4LHSblog/?page_id=1001

Last year our favorite fest, Stone Mountain, GA, was canceled.  We hope it will be a go this fall.

Back to the topic, we had a Fry's here in Lawrenceville, about 20 miles NE of Atlanta.  I remember, in the early '80s, visiting the Fry's in San Jose.  In proper California style, they had semiconductors and snacks on either side of the same aisle.  On one side, integrated circuits, and some dual-inline packages.   On the other side, nacho and potato chips, cheese and avocado dips.   They simply put a sign over the aisle "Chips and Dips".   Funny the things we remember!

"  In proper California style, they had semiconductors and snacks on either side of the same aisle.  On one side, integrated circuits, and some dual-inline packages.   On the other side, nacho and potato chips, cheese and avocado dips.   They simply put a sign over the aisle "Chips and Dips"   "

Nobody axed if you wanted a pie at the checkout?

klc

I remember my first trip to Sunnyvale for a visit to National and Zilog. At lunch I did Frys and the next day I hit Weird Stuff! Man was that cool and nostalgic. How the heck can Silicon Valley feel so nostalgic, when it is the first time you have been there? It was like going to visit your friends. I have been back many times since and it still feels that way.

  Weird Stuff went out of business a few years ago, maybe more, Fry's has been shaky for a number of years, the many empty shelves were a dead give away. The only other surplus place in Silicon Valley HSC had the building's land sold to make more condos and then went out business due to the rent at their new location. Even Ham Radio Outlet closed their store in Sunnyvale due to the rent.

  Over here in the East Bay Al Lasher Electronics in Bezerkeley closed the end of last year. There are just a few place places left here in the Bay Area selling electronic parts and none are close to me.

I've been to the Cables and Connectors store in Newington, CT. Nice place with stocked shelves of everything. There was a Fry's Electronics just down the road from the house we bought here in CA. It seems like every store I like goes out of business.

Jon

I want Murphys' Surplus to move to Texas!

You ain't gettin' Murphys!

Jon, that Frys was my store when I lived in San Diego.  I was closer to the one near I8 but my in laws lived in San Marcos so we would use a trip to Frys as the excuse to go visit.

I bought a ton of pc parts there.  My first digital camera, hard drives I stored my children's pictures growing up....  It was a sad day when I found out they where done. Lots of memories either at that store or somehow tied into it.

Time marches on, nothing is forever.

In early high school years I would get rides to go to Quement (I think that's the spelling) in the San Jose area.  Another store gone.

--Shane
KD6VXI

    I remember Quement Electronics, affectionately known as the "Bascom Bandit" after Bascom Avenue where they were located in San Jose. I worked a lot in San Jose the late 80's into the early 90's, Quement's was a good place to get parts for various jobs I was doing in the area. The owner, last name of Quement, (surprise) was also a long time Ham, the store had an amateur radio section too. Some time in the early 90's old man Quement passed away, within a month the parts and Ham Radio stuff was gone. The store went to all "consumer electronics", TV's and Stereo Crap, I'm not sure how many years they lasted before they went out of business. Another one bites the dust!!!!

  Did you ever go Mike Quinn's Electronics on Langley at Oakland Airport, North Field???