[vcf-midatlantic] Baynesville Electronics

[David Riley]

On Oct 19, 2016, at 13:52, Dan Roganti via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic at lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote:
> 
> I just noticed something about that area. There's a Micro-Center only 10min
> away. It's an up and coming franchise business in several states. If anyone
> is familiar, that is basically the next-gen electronics store that's become
> trendy in a way. They source many of the modern components and modules, etc
> typically found in today's DIY projects. Something what Radio Shack was in
> the 60s,70s,80s. That would be a major concern for competition.

Well, in a way. I grew up in that area (about a mile south of Baynesville), and they're quite different stores. I'll say that Microcenter is competition for things like cables (for example, they're the only two places in the area I can think of to go if you wanted to find a DE9 serial cable), but Baynesville sold things like resistors/diodes/ICs, higher-end electronics tools and radio equipment that Microcenter just doesn't sell (and, conversely, not much in the way of PC gear).

That Microcenter is really new, though; used to be a Computer City and a CompUSA out that way when those were things, but the Microcenter is less than five years old, I think.

I think the time had just come for Baynesville, and the folks who ran it (who were all super-nice, especially the guy who looked like Garrison Keillor) are probably more than ready to retire. It's a shame, but I can't imagine it was financially viable anymore.


- Dave