Best Buy, Micro Center, and RadioShack

[JayAgostino]

Between Best Buy, Micro Center, and RadioShack, I've never visited the latter two. Micro Center only has a single store in Massachusetts. RadioShack still exists because of franchised stores, but I don't believe there are any of them remaining near me. My local Best Buy store used to be occupied by Circuit City. They've been defunct for more than a decade now, but I touched on them in a different thread.

Circuit City

I don't think Circuit City needs introduction, but for those who weren't aware, it was Best Buy's main competitor. They had a distinct "plug" entrance with a red color palette. Circuit City went bankrupt in early 2009 and liquidated all of its stores. The company still maintains an online...

talkedabout.com

 

[Cmaier]

Between Best Buy, Micro Center, and RadioShack, I've never visited the latter two. Micro Center only has a single store in Massachusetts. RadioShack still exists because of franchised stores, but I don't believe there are any of them remaining near me. My local Best Buy store used to be occupied by Circuit City. They've been defunct for more than a decade now, but I touched on them in a different thread.

Circuit City

I don't think Circuit City needs introduction, but for those who weren't aware, it was Best Buy's main competitor. They had a distinct "plug" entrance with a red color palette. Circuit City went bankrupt in early 2009 and liquidated all of its stores. The company still maintains an online...

talkedabout.com

There used to be a micro center across the highway from AMD. I recall going over there and checking out the PC’s because it was one of the few places where you could get PCs with AMD chips in them at the time. Not a very nice place, though. Small, and a little dodgy.

 

[Runs For Fun]

Micro Center is awesome. They have every part you’d need to build a computer. Can’t say that about Best Buy.

 

[Hrafn]

Not sure how to answer. I've been aware of Micro Center for years, but never seen one. Radio Shack has been around since forever, but Best Buy is currently a place I do business with. The last two times I've been in Radio Shack they don't have anything I'm there for. I defaulted to Radio Shack, but that seems not to answer the question. What are you trying to determine?

 

[Cmaier]

Not sure how to answer. I've been aware of Micro Center for years, but never seen one. Radio Shack has been around since forever, but Best Buy is currently a place I do business with. The last two times I've been in Radio Shack they don't have anything I'm there for. I defaulted to Radio Shack, but that seems not to answer the question. What are you trying to determine?

I’m not even sure these really overlap all that much. Radio shacks were tiny, selling batteries, electronic components (transistors, resistors, batteries, etc.) and a relatively small collection of electronic “appliances” (alarm clocks, radios, sometimes TRS-80 computers, TV antennas, etc.). Micro Center had components like power supplies, PCI cards, hard drives, cases, etc. and computers and peripherals. Best Boy has some of that, but also appliances, cameras, etc., and in my experience Best Buy’s are much bigger than Micro Centers, which were themselves much bigger than Radio Shacks.

Mostly around here I went to Fry’s, since Fry’s had *everything* listed above. But I’m sure in my life I’ve been to Radio Shack the most, since when I was a kid my parents would drop me off there when they went to the mall, and I’d screw around with the TRS-80’s, RC cars, etc. in there. And when I was in college I’d go over to Radio Shack to buy 555 timers, resistors, capacitors, breadboards, etc. for wirewrap projects. I was never even aware of Best Buy until I came out here - I moved here in 1996, which is when they were founded? We used to go to places like Circuit City or CompUSA for the kinds of things we’d get now from Best Buy (except that usually I just buy stuff on-line at Amazon, B&H, or Newegg and avoid the annoying salespeople).

 

[Hrafn]

I’m not even sure these really overlap all that much. Radio shacks were tiny, selling batteries, electronic components (transistors, resistors, batteries, etc.) and a relatively small collection of electronic “appliances” (alarm clocks, radios, sometimes TRS-80 computers, TV antennas, etc.). Micro Center had components like power supplies, PCI cards, hard drives, cases, etc. and computers and peripherals. Best Boy has some of that, but also appliances, cameras, etc., and in my experience Best Buy’s are much bigger than Micro Centers, which were themselves much bigger than Radio Shacks.

Mostly around here I went to Fry’s, since Fry’s had *everything* listed above. But I’m sure in my life I’ve been to Radio Shack the most, since when I was a kid my parents would drop me off there when they went to the mall, and I’d screw around with the TRS-80’s, RC cars, etc. in there. And when I was in college I’d go over to Radio Shack to buy 555 timers, resistors, capacitors, breadboards, etc. for wirewrap projects. I was never even aware of Best Buy until I came out here - I moved here in 1996, which is when they were founded? We used to go to places like Circuit City or CompUSA for the kinds of things we’d get now from Best Buy (except that usually I just buy stuff on-line at Amazon, B&H, or Newegg and avoid the annoying salespeople).

Yeah, back in the day I'd buy the Forrest M Mims books and the components he referenced. I also bought more than a few Heathkits, but those took a trip to a special store.

Fry's we'd go to whenever possible, but that was about 10-15 years later until they went out...

 

[Cmaier]

Yeah, back in the day I'd buy the Forrest M Mims books and the components he referenced. I also bought more than a few Heathkits, but those took a trip to a special store.

Fry's we'd go to whenever possible, but that was about 10-15 years later until they went out...

When I first moved out here, the two places that amazed me the most were fry’s (adjacent to AMD) and the Computer Literacy Bookshop on Lawrence Expressway (across the street from AMD). I could have lived in those places.