In 2010, the local store had more components than I can order at reichelt, and was cheaper than aliexpress (if you include shipping).
I really miss having a place (back then we even had ad dozen of them in a few km distance) with a huge selection carrying every component you might ever need, and with enough technical expertise that you could show your circuit diagram and get feedback how to improve it. This is something only seen in shenzhen today.
Now I just don't do any small projects anymore as there are no stores in the entire state left, and the extreme premium in shipping and waiting time of aliexpress just isn't worth it anymore.
>I really miss having a place (back then we even had ad dozen of them in a few km distance) with a huge selection carrying every component you might ever need
That sounds very atypical. I live outside a major US metro and I know of one good computer store in the area (Micro Center). I imagine there a few small places that carry electronic components but not sure how many. And it wasn't much different 10 to 20 years ago unless you count Radio Shack which wasn't really all that great.
I count RadioShack, because it was great. As late as 2016 they had their transisor, resistor, capacitor buckets and speaker wire. You couldn't get arbitrary ICs there, but for basic components or last-minute bodges they were key. And now they're no longer carried.
I really miss having a place (back then we even had ad dozen of them in a few km distance) with a huge selection carrying every component you might ever need, and with enough technical expertise that you could show your circuit diagram and get feedback how to improve it. This is something only seen in shenzhen today.
Now I just don't do any small projects anymore as there are no stores in the entire state left, and the extreme premium in shipping and waiting time of aliexpress just isn't worth it anymore.