Of the stores I mentioned, Active definitely had the best selection of semiconductor products. Whenever I went in there though, I was usually the only one in the store. I think it's becoming increasingly difficult to operate a storefront for semiconductor components. First the customer base is small, largely restricted design engineers looking for miscellaneous prototype parts and electronics hobbyists (a group which I am told is shrinking). Secondly, a small retail facility simply cannot offer the type of selection that a professional demands (they'd probably need a whole aisle just for 8051s), especially at a time in the market when there's a particular ASSP to handle just about any common task you might have on hand. Even when Active was around, my trips there were largely limited to restocking an unexpectedly empty resistor drawer or grabbing a couple discrete logic ICs. I will admit though, it's a shame to see them go. I don't know what's happening in Canada, but I would be somewhat surprised if the situation were much different than here.

So, it's really no surprise that all these places are disappearing, not even counting the competition from large catalog distributors like Digi-Key. Digi-Key operates like piece of well oiled precision equipment, to the extent that it's often easier and cheaper to get parts delivered from them than go to a store.

--Sasha Jevtic