Tandy is based in Ft. Worth, they are alive and well. It is a subdivision of TI, and Radio Shack is a division of Tandy.

Radio Shack is hanging on, how I don't know.

 

Tandy is based in Ft. Worth, they are alive and well. It is a subdivision of TI, and Radio Shack is a division of Tandy.

Looks like I got it the wrong way round. The British stores were called Tandy but all the stuff they sold was badged Radioshack. They used to be everwhere but they gave up years ago.

 

Just one big family.

I have come to the conclusion I am lucky to live where I do, at least as a hobbyist. Ordering parts via snail mail is necessary, but a lot less fun. I buy from Radio Shack for my articles, to use the same parts I recommend, but that is my last choice.

 

RadioShack has been gone from Canada for about 6 years. A few of their stores that sold the most cell phones and kids toys were taken over by Circuit City and called "The Source". They still might have some old parts from RadioShack.

 

Circuit City went belly up here a couple of years ago. The retail outlets are going away, but there are still some local outfits to be found if you're lucky. I needed some parts while out in Fresno, Ca, and found some storefront electronic store with all kinds of useful stuff. It might have been a local business.

Of course, the original supplier for the hobby stuff is long gone. All those discarded TV's that had dozens of long-leaded resistors and some useful capacitors inside....

 

Circuit City went belly up here a couple of years ago.

Some of the former RadioShack stores re-named "The Source" and owned by Circuit City are now owned by Bell Canada so they can continue to sell cell phones and cell phones contracts.

 

The Source (I'm Canadian) still has some components but there's very few. Even 10 years ago when the one beside me was still Radioshack they had very few components.
They have those packages of "assorted resistors" for like $0.20 per resistor and 555's at $5 each.
Pretty useless stuff... they have a better selection of jacks and connectors than anything else and it's all overpriced anyway.

 

My typical cost for a 555 is around 35¢. You can buy from mail order at similar prices.

 

Long ago, when we went to Radio Shack to buy diodes and other things, about half of the diodes were open, mis-marked or dead shorts; factory rejects in other words. Thats how they got their parts dirt cheap. A lot of other things were of dubious value; quad nand gates where only three of the four gates were operational, and other things like that. On another matter, I really think that drilling holes in G10 boards is going the way of the horse drawn carriage, surface mount will be de-riguer for all components of electronic design. Maybe connectors pins will still be drilled because of their strain-relief requirements, but thats about it.

Cheers, DPW [ Everything has limitations, and I hate limitations.]

 

Luckily we do still have actual electronics stores like Sayal and some smaller guys.
Their selection is actually pretty good and the prices are way better than Radioshack. I don't remember how they compare to the big guys like Digikey and Mouser.

 

I bought many low volume parts and my Fluke multimeter from Active Electronics in Mississauga but that store closed.
I bought lots of excellent surplus bargains at Sayal.

My big orders go to Digikey and Newark.

 

One way to help stave off the imminent demise of your local suppliers is to buy things from them.

My favorite local store is a place called "Skycraft Parts & Surplus". That store is a techno-weenie's dream. They don't have absolutely everything, but they do have one heck of an assortment of parts; many of them far below retail (even wholesale) value.

You have to keep in mind what you're buying. At Skycraft, I don't buy the electrolytic caps that they've had sitting on the shelves for 10 years (and who knows how long they were sitting around before that) - I'll buy fresh caps from large-volume vendors, or at least re-form the caps I've bought before I put them into service.

 

I agree about the advantages of dealing locally. Electronic Surplus, Inc. (http://www.electronicsurplus.com/home.cstm) is an old store that was in south central Cleveland. It had/has lots of older, TH components. Prices were a bit high relative to new components, and it was not a great neighborhood, but it was central and convenient. Then it moved to an eastern suburb and is 4 gallons of gas RT away. You can get overnight shipping for almost the same price.

ESI does a good part of its business over the Internet, so hopefully it will survive.

John

 

Somebody has to say it..........

Sooner or later, in the same manner they interfere in everything else........"Big Brother" will, sure as God made little green apples, try to take any and all new supplies away from hobbyists altogether...........
The point ?? ............Stockpile !!

 

Stockpile !!

Lots of outfits have done just that. All you have to do is meet their minimum purchase requirement. The one linked to is only an example - http://www.seekic.com/icdata/ICL8038.html . There are dozens of other warehouse operations that apparently buy up stocks of IC's at the end of their life cycle against future demand. You have to wonder how profitable it is even to be the only game in town.

741 op amps are the exception, of course. Every teaching lab apparently bought up stocks of thousands of them back when it was the op amp. I think all the catalogs have them still, too.

 

Oddly enough, we are experiencing this problem with light bulbs.

At my place of employment, we have hundreds of a certain type of florescent bulb all around the place.

According to the commissary, the bulbs we need are no longer being produced. New versions of a smaller diameter bulb are the new norm.

We used to get the bulbs for around $2 a piece. Now there is one company who we can order from. $50+ a bulb.

The company had bought tens of thousands of this particular bulb at bulk prices on a gamble when they heard the old bulbs were going to stop being produced. A great business move, especially if you have insider sources.

Apparently it is paying off. Apparently the price of 2 bulbs is lower than a newer unit (and installation), so they are making a killing.

Not a bad idea, if it works.

Or, he could just be an idiot who cant use google to find additional sellers.

Ill have to find out the bulb type he was talking about.

 

If that's a T40 replacement, those $50 lamps may be LED - I have seen mentions of them, at least.