All Electronics in LA is CLOSING

[EEVblog]

Gone after 56 years. Last day tomorrow.

https://www.allelectronics.com/

[bdunham7]

Wow!  I've been buying stuff from them since I was a small child--quite literally--and now that I live in CA I've managed to visit them.  I'm sad to see them go, but having seen their operations and knowing the area, the employment situtation and all that, it's a wonder that they've been able to stay open this long.  I'll probably have to spend a pile of money now, they actually have a lot of handy stuff.  I suspect they will be balls-to-the-wall busy for a bit as customers now need to stock up on all the stuff they won't be able to get anymore.

Edit:  It looks like I'm a bit late, they're substantially cleaned out already, at least the popular stuff.

[Brumby]

A shame in many ways, but probably inevitable with today's overpowering Chinese sources and the likes of Digikey, Mouser, etc.

We have seen some retail electronics stores disappear in Australia over the years, but still have Altronics and Jaycar with shopfronts you can walk into.

It is my opinion that Jaycar has been able to keep their head above water by stepping out into gimmick products - such as their Fly Gun - and general consumer gear - like torches and car fridges.  I can see it as being a commercial necessity so I don't criticise them for this because they still have components on the shelf.

Yes, we have other places such as RS Electronics - but you don't have the ability to browse in person.  For example, I have used RS Electronics a few times and all you walk in to is a counter where you can purchase on the spot, if you know the exact item you want and can wait while it's being picked.  Easier is you pick up an online order.

[EEVblog]

I'm sad to see them go, but having seen their operations and knowing the area, the employment situtation and all that, it's a wonder that they've been able to stay open this long.

When I heard LA, I suspected something like that.
Hard to know what's worse, LA or San Fran?

[bdunham7]

Hard to know what's worse, LA or San Fran?

All Electronics is actually out in Van Nuys, so I'm not referring to the current issues that you see in the news regarding flash mobs, homeless drug addicts and so on.  As far as that goes, SF is worse but LA is hot on its heels.  What I meant was the very high cost of real estate, high wages and difficulty finding employees.  I don't know why they are folding--whether they own the building and got an offer, rent the building and their rent tripled, a few key employees quit, the owner(s) have health issues.  I suspect it was a pretty niche business that didn't have the kind of profits that would make it marketable as a going concern. 

[rsjsouza]

Sad news... They join the fate of two similar stores here in the Dallas area that closed in the past three years.

[SiliconWizard]

Yeah that's kind of sad. If only it affected only electronics stores though. Soon enough there may not be any physical store left, except probably junk food and luxury goods.

[EEVblog]

All Electronics is actually out in Van Nuys, so I'm not referring to the current issues that you see in the news regarding flash mobs, homeless drug addicts and so on.  As far as that goes, SF is worse but LA is hot on its heels.  What I meant was the very high cost of real estate, high wages and difficulty finding employees.  I don't know why they are folding--whether they own the building and got an offer, rent the building and their rent tripled, a few key employees quit, the owner(s) have health issues.  I suspect it was a pretty niche business that didn't have the kind of profits that would make it marketable as a going concern.

After 56 years in the business you'd think they'd own the building?

[schmitt trigger]

Sad news... They join the fate of two similar stores here in the Dallas area that closed in the past three years.

I visited Tanner’s frequently when I lived in the DFW Metroplex.
It broke my heart when they folded.

[nctnico]

Yeah that's kind of sad. If only it affected only electronics stores though. Soon enough there may not be any physical store left, except probably junk food and luxury goods.

When visiting LA last year, I noticed some computer stores also had a whole bunch of electronics parts. I think Micro Center.

[bdunham7]

When visiting LA last year, I noticed some computer stores also had a whole bunch of electronics parts. I think Micro Center.

Micro Center does have a selection of electronic components and tools to support the Arduino/Raspberry Pi/hacker crowd, but it is their huge computer/TV/3D printer/etc business that sustains them.   Fry's had a pretty large inventory of electronics stuff and a large number of huge stores here in CA, but they folded a few years back.  They were the last place that you could go find a transistor, TTL IC, op-amp or random grommet for a project that couldn't wait a day.  Now there are literally none.  I suppose it is tough to support a retail business on $1.29 parts.

[bdunham7]

After 56 years in the business you'd think they'd own the building?

IIRC they moved at least once.  You'd be surprised at how many businesses rent forever as many landlords simply won't sell--partly because the entire sale price would be taxable as capital gains and partly because they are obstinate curmudgeons. 

[floobydust]

Why doesn't EEVblog have a "Vendors" section like DIYAudio forums?
Instead, we read here about these stores closing down, at the funeral.

Sad to hear of All Electronics closing down, but it was too expensive to ship to Canada and who is doing electronics in CA anyway, it's all out of Asia nowadays?
When they have a sale or new goodies, it would be nice to see it posted in that marketplace.
Not sure how to deal with the usual offenders that would post hourly lol like the chinese vendors or the barrage of scammers.

[bdunham7]

Sad to hear of All Electronics closing down, but it was too expensive to ship to Canada and who is doing electronics in CA anyway, it's all out of Asia nowadays?

I have to wonder if at least part of their issue might have been sourcing stuff, since their typical surplus sources were manufacturing leftovers, pulls and stuff.  I've noticed the same issue with surplus equipment dealers--their sources have dried up, not their customers. 

[floobydust]

What I see is surplus parts from decades ago for sale, they seem to not sell. Now they are ripe and have turned into "vintage" or "antique" status.

But Asia has an entire ecosystem to not waste any parts. Including my Aliexpress SOT-23 parts that appear to have nothing inside lol. Oops forgot the die. Any junk parts get used up.

North American surplus has either dried up or it's just too hard to manage. People don't know the old parts, their value, their use. Or little is actually bought/made component-wise.

I thought All Electronics and Chaney Electronics were related? Now it's Electronic Goldmine
Their kits are silly expensive. You can make kits for those surplus parts too, that's what used to drive it.

[nigelwright7557]

Its always sad to see another high street electronics vendor go under.
I used to have a Maplin just down the road.
Great if I needed a component in a hurry.
Sadly their prices were very high and so I tended to buy from RS, Mouser, CPC, Farnell or Digikey.
In their early days Maplin did a great mobile disco kit with amplifier, record decks mixer lights etc etc.

[mendip_discovery]

Its always sad to see another high street electronics vendor go under.
I used to have a Maplin just down the road.
Great if I needed a component in a hurry.
Sadly their prices were very high and so I tended to buy from RS, Mouser, CPC, Farnell or Digikey.
In their early days Maplin did a great mobile disco kit with amplifier, record decks mixer lights etc etc.

Sadly Maplins died not because of sales but because of the modern legal equivalent of asset stripping. They made 50% on stuff they sold and they were still busy but as they had been bought by investment groups that then took out a loan to pay themselves back for the amount they bought the company for, eventually after a few extra passes on pass-the-parcel it was left with a large debt that it could no longer pay back. Meanwhile the brand, website etc get sold to other companies so that it can be used again. Same happened to Toys' r Us.

When I win the lottery I might start a shop/scrap yard for old gear. Stack and stacks of kit with the good old smell of burnt caps and the dreaded Rifa caps. I will hire some of wizard-looking types that will talk for hours about solving the problem that you don't need to worry about.

[floobydust]

Yes, it's a common happening for financial weasels to run a brick and mortar chain into the ground.
Dick Smith, Maplin, Radio Shack - get control of the company, absolutely max out borrowing, blow cash on suspicious things, company can no longer service the massive debt, declare bankruptcy. Profit for all in the know.
Publicly-traded retailers have hedge funds playing similar games to profit from taking them down. Manipulate their stock with bad press releases etc.
It's a tragedy because these companies took many years to build up.

Here we have a very high commercial real estate vacancy rate, so the commercial real estate megacorps need to keep up their cashflow and satisfy investors, so... using their greed algo they are doubling rent.
It's 'stupid inflation' but small businesses are weakened after the pandemic and are just closing down instead of moving or trying to find a new lease reasonably priced.
I can see a wasteland of commercial vacancies right now, every complex has listings - and nobody is sounding the alarm bell or lowering rent.

[BILLPOD]

Before the internet I used to get catalogs from All Electronics and several others who's name escape me now, but the one I miss most is the one referred to as 'Crap Shack'.   I was at our local store at least once a week and always came home with an arm load of components, some of which I still have in their original packaging with price stickers.  The next thing I knew their wall of components was replaced with cell phone accessories,
and before long it was closed for good.   Ah, the good old days.

[Martian Tech]

Micro Center does have a selection of electronic components and tools to support the Arduino/Raspberry Pi/hacker crowd, but it is their huge computer/TV/3D printer/etc business that sustains them.   Fry's had a pretty large inventory of electronics stuff and a large number of huge stores here in CA, but they folded a few years back.  They were the last place that you could go find a transistor, TTL IC, op-amp or random grommet for a project that couldn't wait a day.  Now there are literally none.  I suppose it is tough to support a retail business on $1.29 parts.

In the LA area, there's still https://apexsurplus.com/shop and in Silicon Valley there's https://anchor-electronics.com/

[nigelwright7557]

Sadly Maplins died not because of sales but because of the modern legal equivalent of asset stripping. They made 50% on stuff they sold and they were still busy but as they had been bought by investment groups that then took out a loan to pay themselves back for the amount they bought the company for, eventually after a few extra passes on pass-the-parcel it was left with a large debt that it could no longer pay back. Meanwhile the brand, website etc get sold to other companies so that it can be used again. Same happened to Toys' r Us.

My local Maplin was mostly dead when I went in. I cant speak for other branches.
Four staff on, lights blazing and just me browsing.
I fell out with them once, I over heard a staff member saying about me that I come in quite often but never buy anything.
In fact, I spent thousands at Maplin over the years. The fact they often didnt have what I wanted in stock didnt help matters or were just too expensive.
A hundred resistors at Maplin were £17 and £3 at RS.
How to piss off customers !

Yes, they sold on the name and the high prices too !

[themadhippy]

and the high prices too

only in there later years,when they were mail order,and even with a handfull of shops they were always comparable to the other consumer suppliers.

A hundred resistors at Maplin were £17 and £3 at RS.

When maplins kicked off joe public wasnt welcome at RS, i seem to remember there was a  separate company under the RS umbrella that was aimed at  the hobbyist

[luudee]

Why is this a big surprise???

They cannot compete with online retailers like Mouser and Digikey, who, unlike Avnet, Farnel, etc, allow the small guy to buy items in small quantities.

I bet we will see this in many more areas besides electronics. I think groceries are next ...

luudee

[themadhippy]

I bet we will see this in many more areas besides electronics. I think groceries are next ...

come to the uk and you can already see it,the town i live in has  6 supermarkets around the outskirts ,we dont have a butchers , bakers,greengrocers  or fish monger any more so supermarket is the only option,the once thriving town centre is a wasteland  of charity shops nail bars ,vape centres or boarded up  stores and the heaving market twice a week now consists of 3 or 4 stalls.

[Zero999]

I bet we will see this in many more areas besides electronics. I think groceries are next ...

come to the uk and you can already see it,the town i live in has  6 supermarkets around the outskirts ,we dont have a butchers , bakers,greengrocers  or fish monger any more so supermarket is the only option,the once thriving town centre is a wasteland  of charity shops nail bars ,vape centres or boarded up  stores and the heaving market twice a week now consists of 3 or 4 stalls.

High taxes, rents and car parking charges have made this inevitable. It's being going on for over 25 years now.

I've heard California has effectively decriminalised low value shoplifting, which is partly responsible for the decline in retail.