Tandy (radio shack), Maplin

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Anyone else miss these high street stores that used to sell things like soldering irons, multimeters and resistors? Now your only option is online.

Yes and no. It was good to have the option of using these kinds of stores, and they fulfilled a purpose, but I don't think they did themselves any favours with the quality of their goods and service.

Tandy's stuff seemed a bit shoddy from my admittedly limited experience of them, and Maplins were definitely on the pricey side. I once returned an item to one of their shops and the assistant was most unhelpful.

I much preferred Comet, though it wasn't exactly the same sort of business. They also however changed over the years from a good value, no-nonsense type of outfit to more of a profit-obsessed high-margin operation (like Currys) with little interest in customer service.

I kind of liked Tandy but I agree about the quality problem - the hi-fi items always seemed to have one thing in the spec that wasn't up to scratch, and a lot of their stuff seemed overpriced. And the marketing was a bit over the top. But it was the first place I knew of where you could get a "PZM" hi-fi microphone. They were shaped like a square plate, and not very convenient as close-up vocal mics, but the sound quality was great and they revolutionised my music recording. Very cheap too.

Maplins was OK but again they could be somewhat expensive.

Back in the 1970s there was a place on the Edgeware Road in London called Henry's Radio that had practically everything, very inexpensive too. They also did mail order and had a huge catalogue.

The absolute best bricks-and-mortar electronics shop I ever saw was Bardwells in Sheffield. A lot of their stuff was government surplus, their prices were amazingly low, and they had a stunning range of electronic components. Best of all, they didn't do marketing - the place was always packed with customers and most of them had found out about it by word of mouth. Sadly they closed in 2017. They were too good for the modern world.
https://www.sheffieldhistory.co.uk/foru ... as-closed/

In the 90's I used to feel a bit unworthy of Maplin/Tandy, because they were very much about electronics (which I wasn't), but over time they became more appealing to the general public. I used to need all sorts of random audio connections/cables and Maplin were pretty good for that. At the end, however, Maplin more than half toy shop. The most electronic-y thing I ever did was resolder a loose USB-A port in a MIDI keyboard... Actually, did follow some instructions to solder an IR receiver to HIFIBerry audio hat for a Raspberry Pi.

Oh, happy memories from the 1970s growing up, and anticipating a birthday present of a Tandy 20 in 1 experiment kit, and making a crystal set, and a crystal set with an amplifier to buffer the signal and other delights.

I also raised my eyebrows at ten pence for two resistors on a piece of card, and discovering Maplin, and I could buy resistors at a halfpenny or penny each was the big leap forward.

I also remember back in those days there was useful tech info in the Maplin catalogue, some of the kits were pretty good stuff, and it all gave me a helping hand into university study on electronics and applied physics and a career which put a roof over my head.

Sadly enshittification did eventually set in. Eventually Maplin's founders sold the company. The items on offer seemed to slowly become lower quality, component availability over the counter wasn't great, plus there was a great network of stores to service, and eventually it came to an end.

I'd visit stores that had been around for a long time and look for new old stock items.
Radio Shack had good quality speakers at great prices if you waited for one of their sales.

I know where there is a Tandy Leather retail store not too far away.

I used to work at Radio Shack ages ago when I was in my 20's.