I spent a lot of time and a lot of money there way back when, including lots of company money. It was a fun place to go for a while especially if you are a tech nerd/geek type. The degeneration started much longer than 5 years ago. Their business practices were the source of a lot of controversy and I believe lawsuits if I remember correctly. They were infamous for putting returned stock back on the shelves (as new) without even checking it out to make sure it was good. Lots of people got screwed over. They got me one time many years ago and after that I never went back. By then other sources were coming up including the internet.

In its heyday the one in Orange County was really something. You had to get there early just to get a parking spot and go buy something, and the lines would snake around for miles, especially in the holiday season.

Good Guys

Same here, also, I try to buy anything I can not from Amazon. Yes I still buy stuff from Amazon, but if I can get it somewhere else for a good price I prefer that. One day Amazon will wipe out everything else and take over. Once that happens stand by for the fun times as free shipping evaporates, prices go up, etc. Actually even now there are lots of things that are priced a lot higher on Amazon than you can find in other places. You have to do your diligence and search them out. But most people don’t, they just see it on Amazon and order it because it’s convenient.

I was thinking of that also - the swap meet at the Pomona fairgrounds. I went there so many times. That was THE place to go to get all sorts of computer stuff. So much fun wandering up and down the aisles. At its peak it was huge. Then, came the internet.