I feel ya! We used to have a Newegg store here, but last time I passed by there it was a "BBQ Emporium." All my audio equipment has to come from a distributor, and they are getting scarce and the shipping kills me. There are the installer shops, but after they put their markup on it it costs double, and they don't like DIY competition. Why can't the factories open up outlets?
I fear it is a sign of the times and I guess I have just gotten in the habit of shopping online through Amazon, Tiger Direct and such ilk. If it is just a DVD player try eBay and Overstock and some of the liquidators should pop up. We still have Radio Shacks for parts but the stores get smaller and smaller and stock less and less.
I'm in audio for a living (if you can call it that) not home, but car. It's insane how even at my cost I can't sell something to compete with the internet. I wonder how long till a lot more places go down cause of the internets. I actually stopped selling product a while ago, and if it wasn't for my own product that I manufacture I'd be done for. Sign of the times indeed.
I'm led to believe that the span of quality for the DVD players that the closed stores mentioned used to sell is about the same as the span of quality for the DVD players sold by the stores still in business named and also Costco, BJ's, etc.
You might find some decent stereo and video gear at a "computer show". One outfit that runs these "flea markets" on random Sundays in random New England cities is ncshows dot com.
The Boston area has a unique place called U-Do-It Electronics, located in Needham, I-95/128 to Highland Ave. (south of the pike), go east towards Newton but turn left just after the median ends. They're closed on Sundays, though.
>>> Why can't the factories ... ?
If you would like to go to China (I had a fabulous vacation there last year although I wasn't prepared with all the data and magazine reviews needed to make an intelligent choice of what to buy so I didn't.)
One brand of DVD player some relatives and I had problems with is Coby. Would freeze and/or skip a lot.
I fear it is a sign of the times and I guess I have just gotten in the habit of shopping online through Amazon, Tiger Direct and such ilk. If it is just a DVD player try eBay and Overstock and some of the liquidators should pop up. We still have Radio Shacks for parts but the stores get smaller and smaller and stock less and less.
Crutchfield is a good source for stereo and video gear. almost everything they sell comes with instructions for DIY or you can have an installer do the work. Newegg is more PC oriented but they do sell DVD players and the like. Amazon is actually a pretty good resource as well.
If you want an actual brick and mortar store those are becoming harder and harder to find and I think it will take a full swing of the pendulum before people realize that actually getting your hands on something to try it out is worth the extra time.
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