Radio Shack. And not the recent version. The OLD version with breadboards and soldering irons and electronics kits.
I remember being in high school and going in there to buy resistors and shit.
We were in there once or twice a month getting solder and random assortment of components for little home projects we had going. The workers also knew how to help and always had suggestions for the projects we were doing. I remember the day we (grandpa and I) went into the store and realized it wasn’t the same anymore. Only a small selection of components and the whole front was full of RC cars and random expensive electronic gadgets nobody asked for. We only went back once or twice, but it became evident that we can’t find what we were looking for there anymore. We started sourcing our parts from overseas vendors for fractions of a cent per unit, but we had to buy in bulk. We stopped doing those small projects because it was taking too long to get components and the cost was out of hand with thousands of unused components in boxes in the project room taking up space. Well, made myself sad for the morning.
That would be my pick as well. I still have a few of the free CueCats they gave away. After some easy modding, I use one to scan the barcodes of my books to add to a database on my comp. I miss old RS so much.
Okay i was gonna be for toysrus but damn. I want that store to exist in my life right now.
Yes please!🙏
RadioShack, with the drawers of capacitors and resistors.
Old Radio Shack, not that thing from 2015 that was functionally a brick and mortar cellphone stand.
Sadly the new one is all I have memories of
My condolences.
Aw man you were robbed! RadioShack used to be seriously amazing, a hobbyist’s dream.
Yes the old radio shack not the new one which was just a 3rd party cell phone carrier.
The drawers are the best everywhere. RadioShack? Component drawers. Home Depot? Fastener drawers. On and on.
I want DYI kits for everything!
And maybe bring them back with a good assortment of PC parts, too.
I could see them have an entire section for RC cars and drones today.
Radio Shack
No one else has electronic components
Fry’s. Some Microcenters. Al Lashers.
Fry’s also gone.
That’s not even a question, the spirit of radioshack with 2025 technology, that would be awesome !
I just want to be able to run down the street to buy a pack of overpriced unmarked capacitors anytime I need.
We have a few around me still. One in my town and one in the neighboring town. A bit pricey but I try to get what I can there since a best buy just opened up near them.
None of these ever existed in my country, except for Toys “R” Us, which still exists.
Sure? Thought they are now called Smyth’s or something.
Not here; They’re still called Toys “R” Us.
And from looking at the Wikipedia for Smyths it seems that they bought the Toys “R” Us stores in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Not really the same thing as here (Portugal, btw), I think, since they kept the branding, but IDK, I’m not an IP lawyer…
An obligatory “Fuck Blockbuster:” They sucked compared to the local rental shops.
This is probably true, but I remember Blockbuster was good at renting out trash movies. While Netflix does this also, some of them no streaming service wants to or can pick up today. Like the old Mario movie or the weird Red Riding Hood movie with Henry Cavill. That being said, I still wouldn’t bring it back.
We still have Toys R Us and Party City here, and they seem to be doing fine. Blockbuster isn’t really needed anymore. Old school Radio Shack would be pretty cool though.
Greater Vancouver area has gone from like 6 toys r us to 1, don’t think they’re doing too fine
Right, I forgot the Orleans one closed this winter. Ot actually seemed to be well stocked, too. 3 to go in the area, I guess.
Hello fellow Canadian
As someone who used to be an Assistant Manager at Blockbuster…keep that thing dead and gone. Like as a consumer, sure I get it, but working there absolutely sucked. No one remembers the late fees or the fact Blockbuster would send you to collections for ONE late fee (like a whole $3.25) and then send you those bullshit cards in the mail letting you know that you owe them less than $5? yeah I remember cause on a near daily basis I’d get someone in the store yelling at me that they’re trying to get a loan or a house and this little card is fucking it all up for them. MOST of the time the late fee was because the absolutely ancient computer system we used that they never updated…at all…since the 80s…would skip barcodes randomly on scans. That or some vengeful employee at another store would just manually add fees to someones account (yes that was possible, yes we could just add fees to random accounts willy nilly)
also my District Manager was a douchenozzle. Mike, rot in hell.
Circuit City. I grew up on CompUSA but CC had better prices, if I remember right from my childhood. Then CU died, then CC died, then FE died, now all we have is shitty BB.
My CC I got to go ‘in the back’ to watch then replace a psu that died and I correctly diagnosed, back in like… 03? Two techs for the store, super chill, talked me through the process. I’ve been building and repairing my own systems ever since. They told me to let them know when I was 16, they’d put in a good word for me after we chatted for about an hour. By the time I could legally work, the writing was on the wall, and CC died before I turned 17.
I wonder where those guys are at now. I thought I knew what I was doing, but they were so kind in explaining everything, answering every question, giving me confirmation about all sorts of stuff. I really hope they are doing well. They couldn’t have been mid-20s at the time.
I loved Radio Shack for the same reasons. I learned so much from the guys that worked there. I might buy something that only cost $5 but they would spend 30 minutes with me explaining how to fix issues that I had.
Micro center is the last real computer store. I miss egghead
Fry’s electronics
Fry’s had been a living corpse for a decade. You’d have to go as far back as Circuit City to actually get the Fry’s you remember.
Even the zombie version of Fry’s was better than most of the alternatives (*cough* Best Buy *cough*).
Toys R Us. No contest.
I thought they were already opening some stores.
Old!radioshack gets a pretty good case made for it elsewhere in yhread, or I’d agree with you.
Friendlies still exist I saw one just a month or two ago
I live 5 minutes from a friendlys and 15 minutes from another. They’re still out there
Probably none of them, I prefer MOM-and-pop shops
Not a lot of mom-and-pop electronic components shops near me (zero total) so RadioShack.
How about independent pharmacies
Friendly’s still exists, it’s just regional now though.
I was like, “Friendly’s is dead?” for a terrifying second before I read this 🥹
Actually I was like 5 the last time I ate there so it’s really not that special to me but happy they’re not dead yet. Started my love for gummy bears in ice cream.
They’re still about as good as you remember. I.e. my five year old thinks it’s the best thing ever.
