The problem being, *which* electronic parts, out of the 100,000 or so that
exist? Most of the *$ outposts I see, even here in Seattle, barely have
space to stock their thin line of coffee paraphernalia. Plus, there's
something to be said for having salespeople who are at least well-enough
trained to be able to suggest an equivalent part from a different
manufacturer in an out-of-stock situation. The mom 'n' pop shops had that,
and the big mail-order distributors do too, but I can't see it happening at
*$.
Of course, we do have the equivalent of a coffee shop and parts store.
But, instead of the coffee it is consumer electronics, and the name is
Radio Shack. It's been a really long time since Radio Shack was a
small regional chain that only dealt in items for the hobbyist.
But because they sell consumer stuff, they can be in numerous locations
and they can keep going when a store with only parts would ahve
disappeared long ago. This is no different from trying to sell parts
at a coffee shop, though the two items are likely more compatible.
And then yes, it gets to the issue of "what parts?". Radio Shack
has been in Canada for almost 35 years, and in all that time I would never
consider it a good place to buy parts. Too limited a selection, prices
are too high. But, you can't beat them for handiness, so if you need
that op-amp to finish a project, then you can easily get to a Radio Shack,
be sure that the store will still be there, and even be sure that the store
will be open even if it's five minutes to nine on a weeknight.
Michael