i miss computer stores

[Evatron]

went to my local shopping mall/center and realised how so many media stores are gone now. almost everything is clothes. i remember early 2000 when i would go browse pc world or virgin media and just look through all the random PC games and hardware. bargain bins of software and isles of obscure addon hardware would be interesting to look through for hours. i really miss that. if you want anything like that now you gotta do it online and its just not fun because going out for it felt like an adventure and you might accidentally find some cool stuff. the remaining computer stores now have nothing like that experience.

ok my nostalgia vent is over. thanks for reading.

 

[Mik3]

I used to love going to computer fairs back in the 90's, I don't know if they do them anymore, has anyone seen one recently?

 

[throwaway4372]

I used to like walking around PC World but it's been a "dodge the employee" fest for a long time.

 

[Pho]

You might like https://imgur.com/gallery/AmAj1ZK - someone found an old computer store that had been abandoned and left since ~2001 :eek.

Apparently (https://twitter.com/textfiles/status/1246861330830761986?s=21) it was left empty as the owner had gone bankrupt and everyone was tied up in lawsuits.

 

[Pawnless Endgame]

I wasn't really interested in any competitors because Overclockers was local to me anyway. The only exception was while at Staffs Uni (Stafford campus) from 1998 to 2000, where we had our own on-site computer shop next door to the canteen! It wasn't cheap but was good for emergencies if you needed a replacement keyboard or hard disk just a few minutes walk from your digs.

What I do miss though are the general electrical shops and radio shops e.g. Radio Shack that were common on the high street up until the late 90s.

I also miss HMV as me and my mates would spend half an hour in there checking out new music and movies. Then buying one of those silly A1 posters that you flick through and each poster had a number or code that you would pick. Stafford did finally get its own HMV store in 2004 but we only had it for about 10 years then we lost it when HMV sold off about 50% of their branches. The nearest we have in Stafford nowadays for browsing music and movies would be CEX.

 

[No-One]

I used to love going to computer fairs back in the 90's, I don't know if they do them anymore, has anyone seen one recently?

Drove past one in Leicester a few years ago. Thought I'd pop in and have a look. Most of the stands were selling old and long obsolete systems like the old white plastic imacs. Another selling ink cartridges, cables, phone casesetc. The actual up to date components and systems on sale were slightly more expensive than online. Didn't buy anything.

 

[Hunterlit]

Many hours spent in Gamestation as a teenager.

 

[jsmoke]

Boots used to sell Spectrum games in the 89s then PC world in the 90s, then Amazon then steam.

 

[shifty_uk]

I used to like walking around PC World but it's been a "dodge the employee" fest for a long time.

I disagree with this, Ive been in a few times recently (different stores) for business and you cant get a hold of anyone. When you finally track someone down questions turn into lookups on the computer or let me get a colleague who might know.

No product knowledge and a complete lack of willingness to do the job. Thats the mentality of the generation working there. Must be no sales incentives either.

 

[Evatron]

so miss HMV as me and my mates would spend half an hour in there checking out new music and movies. Then buying one of those silly A1 posters that you flick through and each poster had a number or code that you would pick. Stafford did finally get its own HMV store in 2004 but we only had it for about 10 years then we lost it when HMV sold off about 50% of their branches. The nearest we have in Stafford nowadays for browsing music and movies would be CEX.

aw man HMV has ditched it entirely. its just music now which i guess was its original thing but still our one had variety back then.

 

[Resident]

I used to love going to computer fairs back in the 90's, I don't know if they do them anymore, has anyone seen one recently?

There's one in Sheffield every other month.

Drove past one in Leicester a few years ago. Thought I'd pop in and have a look. Most of the stands were selling old and long obsolete systems like the old white plastic imacs. Another selling ink cartridges, cables, phone casesetc. The actual up to date components and systems on sale were slightly more expensive than online. Didn't buy anything.

Pretty much the same at the Sheffield one. Table after table of tat.

 

[Malevolence]

Newsagents used to sell Spectrum games back in the early 80s, Mastertonic titles at £1.99

 

[!bluetonic!]

Supply and demand.

I used to love browsing in these types of shops, but I didn't purchase once internet shopping was so prevalent.

Take a look in the Retro section on this forum. The guys there probably have all the retro goodness you can imagine.

 

[potatolord]

Boots used to sell Spectrum games in the 89s then PC world in the 90s, then Amazon then steam.

When WHSmith started selling Spectrums, the usual Saturday routine was to enter into their display model
10 PRINT "Dave is gay"
20 GOTO 10

And then leg it.

As our skills improved, we would add flashing screens, different colours and annoying beeps.

 

[Malevolence]

When WHSmith started selling Spectrums, the usual Saturday routine was to enter into their display model
10 PRINT "Dave is gay"
20 GOTO 10

And then leg it.

As our skills improved, we would add flashing screens, different colours and annoying beeps.

10 x=0
20 x=x+1
30 PRINT x;
40 GOTO 20

 

[potatolord]

10 x=0
20 x=x+1
30 PRINT x;
40 GOTO 20

Heh, us 80s trolls were pioneers.

 

[dave28]

Used to be a pound store near me with an upstairs section selling games where you could try the game before purchase.

im sure they were overpriced and i will always feel guilt for making my mother buy them when i was a kid, looking back the games were very poor.

There is a small computer store near me now, a one man owned repair / parts / PC`s shop but i only go in on a rare visit. There is only a very small amount of stuff there sadly

 

[thenewoc]

The original stores before the Indian cuisine sounding company bought them used to be epic, used to travel miles to visit the Croydon one.

 

[[FnG]magnolia]

Used to be a pound store near me with an upstairs section selling games where you could try the game before purchase.

im sure they were overpriced and i will always feel guilt for making my mother buy them when i was a kid, looking back the games were very poor.

There is a small computer store near me now, a one man owned repair / parts / PC`s shop but i only go in on a rare visit. There is only a very small amount of stuff there sadly

 

[Nasher]

PC World is terrible now. Overpriced and don't really have that much useful stock. It's all TV and smart phone rubbish.

There is still a small PC store left in my town, but they are also to expensive.

If you want anything remotely specialist or out of the mainstream you have to order online.