[Boatanchors] Another Parts Store Closes...

[qrv at kd4e.com]

My sense is that stores need to figure out new itches to scratch.

If you want buyers for hardware then you need to teach younger
people (youth and adults) how to use it.

If you want more interest then you need to be more interesting.

Host events like "robot wars" and Special Event stations and
mini-hackathons ... have someone demonstrate how to convert
an AM or FM receiver into a transmitter, launch a balloon then
have a Fox Hunt to find the landing site ... get creative!

Set up a testing & repair bench for minpr things like checking
FM deviation, cleaning noisy pots, repairing connectors, etc -
get local Hams and/or retired electricians/service techs to
help in exchange for a discount.

Get creative ... online can't offer any of these things.

IMHO, YMMV ... David KD4E

> I miss some of these "bricks and mortar" toy stores as much as anyone. 
> However, the world is a changing place with technology driving that change.
> 
> Sourcing and selling things over the Internet just makes sense.  The
> business model of retail just doesn't cut it anymore.  You cannot have
> people coming in for free, looking at your stock, photographing it or
> taking down the bar-code on their smart phones and then making the
> purchase over the Internet from a cheaper vendor.
> 
> In my experience, fewer young people seem interested in any "hardware"
> hobbies.  Despite sophisticated devices everywhere, very few are
> actually interested in knowing how they work.  I see very few young
> people interested in cars either.
> 
> One of the things about most new devices is that they create very
> limited visual interest.  Even if you take the covers off a phone or a
> computer there is only an array of surface mount squares.  It is
> difficult for a novice to look at this an have an clue as to what each
> of these does.
> 
> This is in contrast to the old gear like a tube radio in which there was
> an air variable capacitor, an intriguing tuning mechanism, tubes that
> glow...


-- 

*David* KD4E
ARES-EC Bulloch County, Nevils, Georgia USA

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Restored to design-spec at Heaven's gate 1Cor15:22