Vancouver's Main Electronics is closing

[MIPS]

I went to check their hours on their website and was stunned to find this message.

*Dear Valued Customers*

We would like to inform you that due in part to the passing of both Phil and Daniel,
the founders of our family business, Main Electronic Supplies is now "Closed."

We are currently looking to sell the whole lot or large sections of our inventory.
If you or anyone you know (including businesses) are interested,
please email us at: info@mainelectronics.com

Once our inventory has found a new home,
we will gladly provide an update below as to where it has moved.

We sincerely thank you for your understanding and continued support since 1971!

They were the last old but really good component stores in the Vancouver area. I travelled 300km to pick up supplies. They were also very skilled with older items and could get you just about any belt, capacitor or tube you needed, plus there was a tester in the corner.
I remember hearing about Danny passing earlier in the year but Phil is news to me.
I know they have a number of gems in their inventory and a lot of NOS TV and radio components. No onesies or twosies for ordering but I'm sure if you are looking to build a large inventory of parts it might be worth contacting them for a detailed list of their inventory.

[Findm-Keepm]

So sad, but it is the demise of the old guard electronic parts places these days. The one here has three of the most experienced parts guys in the area - and two are in their 60s, and one is north of 55 years of age. No youngster to train, no competitor to give them any real edge - they just outlasted or bought out all others.

I worked there in the 80s, when I was the youngest, and the oldest was 73. What a range of parts gurus too - from Sarnoff to Sony, Tesla to Teknika the boss used to say. He'd demand we learn a new tidbit every day - pick up the catalogs, pick up the reference guides, and read. I memorized all of the computer interfaces one day, all of the phono idlers we stocked the next, the HH Smith color codes for binding posts, all of the 3-terminal regulators, all of the various DMMs we sold, and on and on. Saturdays, I was the go-to guy, as the older guys worked M-F only. Nowadays, no Saturday, and no "real" repair parts - just leftovers and lots of pretty colored stuff...if NTE didn't make it, they wouldn't carry it.

[Tim R.]

Originally Posted by MIPS

I went to check their hours on their website and was stunned to find this message.





They were the last old but really good component stores in the Vancouver area. I travelled 300km to pick up supplies. They were also very skilled with older items and could get you just about any belt, capacitor or tube you needed, plus there was a tester in the corner.
I remember hearing about Danny passing earlier in the year but Phil is news to me.
I know they have a number of gems in their inventory and a lot of NOS TV and radio components. No onesies or twosies for ordering but I'm sure if you are looking to build a large inventory of parts it might be worth contacting them for a detailed list of their inventory.

Sorry to hear that. We had a similar kind of electronics store here in Houston that was one of my favorite places to shop. It closed for a very different reason, though. A hospital wanted the land to build a parking garage. They offered the owner an obscene amount of money and of course he accepted.

When it was being liquidated I got to go into the back room. Only about a third of the massive building was open to the public and I always wondered what was in the rest of it. Turns out it was a shooting range, and over the years they had been using it for some sort of government R&D...