Which items/products were you once able to get from local shops on a whim that you now more or less have to order online?
Sometimes I find myself shopping for things that I'd prefer to go out and get within the same day, but now I'd have to order and wait a few days to get...So I'm wondering what some of those things may be for you?
Electronic parts. There used to be several local shops and a Radio Shack where you could go in and just buy basic electronic components (capacitors, resistors, photocells, transistors, breadboards, potentiometers, you name it). They phased all of that out in favour of toys and trinkets before just folding.
Now I have to order on Mouser or Digikey and wait. Sure there's WAY more variety, but I miss being able to just run & grab something I might have forgotten (or, let's be honest, fried somehow).
The only hope I’ve had near me is Microcenter. Only place I’ve seen in ages where I can walk out with at least some resistors and sensors but the selection can be…eh on some items.
So glad we still have a few of those kicking around in our city, but they just can’t compete unfortunately.
I try supporting local, but I’m not spending 25% more just to do that.
I'd say 400% + is a more realistic cost of buying components local vs. online. Regardless, I miss having the local option even tho I can actually get most parts delivered faster than it used to take me to drive to Fry's & back.
I used to live in Toronto, and I'd hit up Active Surplus regularly. An iconic place for any hobbyist in the area. I don't think the guy in the gorilla suit works there anymore though :(
Cables. All the ones you can find local are at least twice the price of online, and many are impossible to find outside of microcenter.
Also good, safe powerstrips. The local ones are cheap with bad outlets. Better to find a certified one online.
What certification do you look for?
There are a few, TUV/ETL/UL. Any of those and/or good user reviews are what I look for. I've had too many cheap ones spark or just have very loose ports to trust them anymore.
SD cards too.
Man, Im hunting for a good powerstrip for my desk right now too.
That Isobar is tempting, but seems overkill for a PC.
If it's not specifically called a surge protector, it's probably not worth it. It's difficult to even find a good surge protector online without getting flooded with cheap power strips because SEO makes them all show up in the same searches. But they are not the same. Power strips are little more than splitters with a switch. A surge protector will actually offer your devices some protection.
Uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) give you a load of sockets to work with and protect your expensive electronics from damage
This is the one I ended up going with. Not too expensive and it has good, solid connections that ease my house fire paranoia.
My entire region doesn't even have Microcenter, and the local equivalent died out a couple years ago. I have to either go online or drive through a state and a half to get just a SATA cable or an internal SSD unless I want to risk Best Buy.
Electronic components. Almost all small parts shops are gone.
Hobby shit.
There used to be a hobby shop in town that catered to all kinds of things, from metalworking, to mini figures, to sewing and leathercraft. Model kits, trains, science kits, and if I remember correctly they even had a small section dedicated to chemistry supplies.
That was when I was a child.
Now that I'm actually in to several of those things, it's closed. My parents used to go for TTRPG stuff.
I'd love to not have to drive an hour and a half to pick up a leather stamp, or pop in to see if they got a new shipment of metals I need. And don't get me started on outdoor hobbies. The best we've got is a few shitty national chain sporting good stores.
appliance parts.
Used to be so many stores that sold parts for self repair. Most of them have disappeared (at least around me), and the few that remain are either a ridiculous drive away, or ridiculously expensive. Like, sure, I could drive 3 hours to your store, buy the part I need for 70 bucks, and drive 3 hours back home.
Or I can go online and order the part and have it in a day or two for less than quarter of the price.
Im lucky theres a dude nearby selling parts out of a small shop. Hes a wizard at appliances, too, so even though the parts a lot more expensive (because he sells OEM stuff and not Chinese knock offs), hes got a lot of knowledge you can glean from him.
Oh yeah, I only get OEM stuff.
I dont get the knockoffs. I don't want to do the job 5 times in a week, be out the money, and go get the OEM part anyway.
Boot and shoe care products. If you're lucky, Target or whatever might carry one or two tins of medicre Kiwi shoe polish and maybe one type of leather conditioner. I remember having better selection at just the grocery store and being spoiled for options at any of the 4 or 5 proper shoe stores that used to be in every neighborhood.
Marks or any cobbler will have those.
The closest shoe repair place to me is 60 miles away these days 😔 It's not like I live in a small town, either! I remember when there was one in every second or third strip mall. It's not like it's tricky to order a bottle of Obenauf's online, but I miss being able to just be like, "I better swing off at this random place to pick some up while I'm thinking about it."
All the little doohickeys that you don't need all the time, like plug converters, extension leads, puncture repair kits, a good range of screws.
Local shops might have something, but never the one you want because it's just not economical to keep a good range in stock.
That was my first thought. All the little adapters from Radioshack you used to be able to grab on a whim. Need to connect some RCA jacks to your headphone plugs? Or need a universal ac adapter with an assortment of dc plugs?
Cant really get that stuff anywhere but online now.
A surprising number of those things have ended up being at my local Best Buy (including both of your examples), but lower level components like resistors are impossible to find. Even at hobby shops there are only components specifically related to rc vehicles, nothing miscellaneous.
Edit: I guess this was a common opinion. You’d think interest had picked up with so many electronics “maker” things popping up with Arduino or the Pi.
That happened as recently as September here
Fountain pens. I used to buy them at the local office supply store, but they’ve been gone for 25 years. For that matter, my town doesn’t even have a big box office supply anymore.
And books. I really miss a proper local bookstore.
On the flip side, the variety and market segments that are open to fountain pen people are as good as they've ever been (since ballpoints became a mature technology), both for ink and pens. Sure, the Sheaffer School pens and Waterman Phileases and Cross Whatevers aren't hiding in Office Depot anymore, but you can still find a Varsity or a wick-feed Zebra pretty easily, and the Internet is so much faster than it used to be. I guess I'll never pop into the cigar shop by the office to pick up a spare Lamy Safari though.
I feel lucky weve got Powell's Books downtown. Its fun going in there to browse, even if I'm not picking anything up.
Unfortunately that's gotten worse even since 2021
Unfortunately, anything non-perishable. I go into local shops and can search an item I want on the internet and it will always be way, way cheaper. Cheap enough to where I can't justify "supporting local business." I'd love to, but I'm just as broke as everyone else right now.
Saffron
While it's expensive, and this is a fairly low income area, I used to be able to get a couple of brands in-store.
But, because it's expensive, and this is a low income area, it became a great way to get easy money. You go to the grocery store, pocket a couple of containers, then sell them on ebay. That's enough money to get you to the end of the paycheck if you do it regularly. Enough people figured this out, and nobody carries it at all now. The only thing you can find is the badia, and even that isn't in every store in the county. And it ain't good saffron tbh.
Aftershave. I used to just get it at the grocery store, but lately they only have Old Spice grandpa aftershave. I just buy my brand online now.
Old spice has come back around... Haven't you seen the commercials? 😁
bed bath & beyond has risen from the dead, but they're only online now.
i used to spend hours browsing through those magnificent real-life stores.
All my local hardware stores have it, including big boxes. But none of them carry Flitz, which I find infuriating because I use that a lot more.
If you have some Flitz I'll trade you some Brasso for it...
Jeans that fit me.
I'm not even that unusual of a size - just taller than most, and with weight gain I have actually entered easier to find sizes. (Used to joke that I could find lots of them that would fit if I could wear them rotated 90 degrees - switching the waist and inseam numbers)
So I used to be able to go to a department store and with a lot of searching, find some pairs and try them on to confirm that they fit.
Then it started getting scarce. On the final offline jeans shopping trip, I went to JC Penny and bought literally every pair of jeans they had in stock that fit me - about 10 pairs.
Now I would just have to buy online if I want any new ones (not counting specially shops)
I have not been able to find decent jersey knit bed sheets since my local Bed Bath and Beyond closed down (and it was one of the first locations to go).
I can get some at Walmart or Target, but they are not going to be soft and will not last long. I have tried to order online, but even purchasing from a big name brand, they ended up lower quality and higher price than Walmart.
I have had luck with Home Goods, but their selection is always a bit of a gamble.
If you're trying to replace your Pure Beech Jersey I can recommend Sheets and Giggles as a suitable replacement. They aren't jersey but they are just as soft. My husband loved Pure Beech and replacing them was a huge problem for us. Sheets and Giggles is around twice as expensive and made from bamboo modal instead of beech but they are the closest we've come so far.
Bull Boxer sneakers
Printer Ink for my weird tiny printer. It isn't available in most stores any more and I have to order it online