[McMurdo]

When I worked for an electronics repair house in town, we often needed parts ordered in the same day, so we had a list of local places within a quick drive, such as May's TV shop, Chadwick's of Newcastle, Worthington Brothers, Smithsons Motor Factors (surprising what they kept from esoteric connectors to cable & bulbs) and luckily, in Stoke town centre, Maplin. Doug Simmons, then MD of maplin, called in once to say hello as he was passing. I was surprised they'd opened a big shiny shop in Stoke but they had their own free car park (unfortunately also used for free by visitors to the town and never policed) so going down was no trouble. Sometimes there was a queue at the trade counter. Doug Simmons told us they were opening shops based on the number of mail orders they had from specific post-codes. When I went to work for myself I opened up a shop account so I could just pop in if I was at a client's premises and needed something without having enough money on me.

Maybe the new owners (I doubt the brand will disappear) will have a better business plan, and re-inforce their mail order operations. The internet generation of component and kit buyers are used to slick online shopping from ebay and amazon etc; what we need are cheap, approved supplies of power supplies, pc parts, components and consumables that are here next day, dont cost a fortune for shipping and are guaranteed not to be DOA, be unsafe, blot-out freeview or a fire risk.

The farnell/RS model where free postage is paid-for by higher unit prices is a good one for low-cost items for the hobbyist, and good for trade buyers of high-value finished parts alike who don't mind if an item is £20 dearer tomorrow than one you can get next week.

RS and Farnell are (hopefully..I havent seen the books) successful for a reason.