[GreenKeys] OT -- fun stores with old stuff

[Doug Alderdice]

Back in the late 80s in the Dallas/Fort Worth area Southwestern Bell had 
surplus store that had been discovered by a friend who was living in the 
area at the time.  One time when I visited him we took a trip over there 
and talk about the kid in the candy store, especially for someone like 
me who has always been a phone nerd.  I came away with as much as I 
figured would fit in my suitcase for the flight back home, ;)

When I was in high school Olson Electronics had a store in downtown 
Buffalo that was one block from where I'd catch my city bus home so it 
was very convenient to drop in there after school and rummage about 
and/or make a small purchase.

ETCO Electronics was a mail order surplus house in the 80s and was based 
in Plattsburg, NY and I was a decent customer of theirs.  We had a 
relative who lived near there and once on a visit to the relatives I 
made a pilgrimage to the store.  That was a let-down as it was mostly 
counter sales, so it wasn't much different from ordering from the 
catalog.  I was hoping for aisles of treasures to explore.

Doug A.


On 5/27/2024 12:45 PM, Harold Hallikainen via GreenKeys wrote:
> 
> 
> On Mon, May 27, 2024 7:39 am, Gil Smith wrote:
>>
>> Wish one of these store was near me, but maybe one is near one of you:
>> https://www.designnews.com/electronics/cool-stores-for-electronics-geeks
>>
> 
> As a kid, I visited all the surplus stores surrounding the Oakland CA
> airport. In college, we had Tiki Tom's Things, a surplus store in San Luis
> Obispo CA. Now, here in Tucson, we have Elliotts Surplus and Elliotts
> Electronics, a local parts house. Nice!
> 
> https://elliottelectronicsurplus.com/
> 
> https://www.elliottelectronicsupply.com/
> 
> 
> Harold
> https://w6iwi.org/rtty
> 
> 
>