[Animats]

So many surplus stores are gone. Silicon Valley had HSC, where Steve Jobs bought Apple's first oscilloscope. They closed in 2018. Weird Stuff Warehouse closed in 2018. Edmund Scientific in New Jersey closed in 2001. Electronic Surplus [2] is "temporarily closed for maintenance. Fair Radio Sales in Lima, OH closed in 2023.[1]

It's cheaper to buy the new stuff from Shenzhen than the old stuff.

[1] https://fairradio.com/

[2] https://www.electronicsurplus.com/

[bagful]

AllElectronics in CA, too. I bought out their 10k dual-taper A/C pots during their closing sale; an unusual but powerful taper for audio electronics.