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kaladin-jasnah
The Charlotte Micro Center opening was great, and was perfect timing since I was able to get some adapters I needed urgently without ordering online.

Got the free mug out of it too! I wonder if the mugs will become valuable collectibles in the future.

jakedata
The Microcenter in Cambridge (MA) finally updated their sign to modernize the rainbow Apple logo a few years ago. I hope it's stashed somewhere, to me it's more iconic than the Citgo sign a few miles away. They have added some components and kits but it doesn't fill the yawning void left by You-Do-It Electronics shutting down a year ago, or Radio Shack's slow motion demise.
bitwize
There needs to be one on the Gulf Coast. I don't care much for having to go to Bezoscorp for my gear.
readthenotes1
There's one in Houston, TX, IIRC.

The biggest Gulf of the continent is pretty big though, so that might not help you much

bitwize
Yeah, I'd settle for one between NOLA and the Florida panhandle.
nosduco
I live in Columbus near the original Microcenter. Still the GOAT store, it's not even close. Happy to see them expand more!
iFred
I keep hoping for a Microcenter in either Portland or Seattle but alas, I get the "we're always looking for new locations" email from their team and a "why not just order it from Amazon" from nearly everyone else.
JCM9
Microcenter feels like going back in time (in a good way). It has a very 90s vibe to it. The staff wear khakis and blue collared shirts. Even the signage uses serif fonts in a way that looks, comfortably, dated. I hope they don’t change.
ericmay
I love Microcenter, though I haven't purchased anything from one in quite some time - I don't buy a lot of new electronics.

I remember as a teenager we would go on "road trips" to Microcenter - 25 minute drive tops and since none of us had any money we would just try and get someone to spend their paycheck on a new GPU or something so we could get second hand excitement from a purchase. It was also the first and only place I've ever seen BAWLS energy drinks.

caycep
can you buy a 5090 FE there though?
mrbluecoat
Best Buy meets Costco - a place you can look at things you'll buy later online.
taude
Waiting for one in RTP. Miss going to the Cambridge one. So much stuff there you don't know you need!
peteforde
Can someone offer an explanation of why this is popular? I don't mean this in a crass way, I'm actually genuinely baffled to see geeks lining up for a Costco-like experience to get stuff that you can easily get online without needing to get into a car.

For me, big box stores just mean markups + staff that know less than most tech reviewers on YouTube. All in an introvert's nightmare. What's the upside?

esalman
There's more to life than pressing a few buttons and stuff appearing at your door.
NoPicklez
The difference is what while you're waiting to get your tracking number, I've already driven down the road and come back with the item I could've bought online, that I also purchased based on reviews and Youtube videos I watched the night before.
archagon
Interestingly, the items I was looking for (NAS boxes) were actually cheaper at MicroCenter than anywhere else. And I could get them same day with a generous return policy.
fragmede
But I want it nowwwwwww.

But seriously, online shipping takes longer than driving over to the store and picking the thing up. It's not just being impatient, but sometimes eg your headphones break but you have an important meeting coming up soon.

The other one is, Amazon, especially, the pictures lie about the object's size after shipping. Especially for. a TVs. Sure you can use a measuring tape, but some people really do just want to see it in person to get a proper feel for how big something is.

Then there's laptops to try out how the keyboard does.

acranox
For a lot of items I’ve looked into, Newegg and Microcenter had comparable prices. Several small items were cheaper at microcenter, presumably because Newegg marked up the prices for low cost items to cover the free shipping.