I (naively) popped into a Radio Shack about two years ago thinking that they might have some random electrical parts I was looking for. Once I got past the cellphones, remote control cars, and junk too cheap to be sold at Sharper Image, I found the four drawers of parts in the back corner, mostly empty. Perf boards were like $6/piece, and they sold an Arduino starter kit for like $200.

I remember the store nearest my house growing up having multiple AISLES of just power adapters and barrel connectors, etc, and it was a tiny store in a strip mall sandwiched between a Baskin Robbins and a Subway.

It was certainly a sad realization.