Hacker News Reader

Do you know of any retail stores that still sell electronics components besides Radio Shack? Honestly, that will be what makes me the saddest when they go - when I really need a switch, resistor, or LED I just don't know of any other store that I can walk into and have it right now.

View on HN

Fry's has a decent component selection depending on the exact store, but nothing in the Bay Area I've seen compared to HSC in Santa Clara; it's a huge warehouse full of everything from aisles of reels of surface-mount components to shelves and shelves of used test equipment.

Not everyone lives in California. I did for 2 years after getting my BS in EE, and Fry's was something I had never seen the like of in my life. Both northern and southern Cali have an unusual concentration of electrical engineers.

RadioShack is the only retail store I have heard of, in Delaware or Maryland or southern New Jersey, that has resistors, capacitors, bread boards, etc.

I think, at least where I live, that role is filled mostly by local speciality stores. I can think of a few in the Toronto area, and they don't exist outside Southern Ontario.

Ah Active Surplus. There is one thing that I miss from my Canadian days!

Reply on news.ycombinator.com