[sdiy] Digikey bags

[David G Dixon]

We're super lucky here in Vancouver, BC, Canada, because we have Lee's
Electronic Components on Fraser Street.  Back in the good old days, they
were on Main Street, and there was another shop literally three doors down
the street called Main Electronics that was a good second choice if Lee's
didn't have what you wanted.  Main went out of business, and Lee's moved a
few blocks east (and slightly north) and doubled the size of their store.

The only issues with Lees are the following: 1) During the pandemic, they
only allow 3 punters in the store at a time, so the lineup outside can be
long, and 2) they pander mostly to those who don't really know very much
about electronics.  One very annoying result of this is that they mostly
stock 5% resistors.  Back in the day, when the "new" owners acquired the
shop, they acquired a complete collection of 1% resistors, and I fell in the
habit of buying what I needed for my strange designs there.  However, they
quickly realized that I was one of the only customers in the entire Lower
Mainland who was actually buying "weird" resistor values, so when they ran
out of odd E96 values, they simply didn't restock.  Now, they are mostly out
of many of the lees common values, and even out of some of the more common
values (like 200k).  It is very annoying when you need half a dozen 13.7k
resistors (for example) and having to either change a design or come up with
$100 worth of stuff to order from Digikey so that you don't end up spending
$8 for those resistors, when a local store should have them hanging in a
little bag on the resistor wall.  Plus, I live quite a few kilometers south
of Vancouver, so getting to Lee's is a 30-minute chore now, and there is
never anywhere to park.  It's very annoying to drive all the way there, find
a parking spot, stand in line, and then get in only to find that they are
out of the damn resistors I need.  As a result, Lee's has basically lost a
very good customer.  I rarely go there now.  They don't miss me.

The result of this is that I changed my buying habits entirely.  I now keep
inventories of everything I have on my computer, and I tend to buy parts
$500 or so at a time from places like Tayda (which sells the exact same
stuff that Lee's carries, but at about 20% of the price, and with a far
wider selection, and stuff is almost never out of stock).  For those special
resistors, I still buy from Digikey, but I almost never have any problem
getting up to $100.  



-----Original Message-----
From: Synth-diy [mailto:synth-diy-bounces at synth-diy.org] On Behalf Of Mike
Bryant
Sent: Monday, May 31, 2021 3:28 AM
To: Roman Sowa; Oren Leavitt; synth-diy at synth-diy.org
Subject: Re: [sdiy] Digikey bags

[CAUTION: Non-UBC Email]

> I can forsee someone will raise the stake to luxury^3 by saying they had
no walk-in electronic stores. Well, I can't beat that. I was the lucky one.

Uh, isn't that what we are all in now ??


In the UK, Maplin wiped out the independents such as Henrys, and then went
bust.  RS have walk-in warehouses but never any electronic components stored
there, those are all in Corby.  All they stock at the walk-ins are the same
stuff Toolstation and Screwfix stock.

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