Change Is The Only Constant

     When I moved to Indianapolis over forty years ago, the city was a wonderful place to do electronics.  Small computer-supply stores were all over, Radio Shack was ubiquitous, and there were multiple parts suppliers serving industry and the TV repair trade.  Graham Electronics downtown; RaDisCo on the near West side; ESP (Electronic Service Parts), King Electronics and Meunier Electronic Supply all East of downtown; Broad Ripple had a Heathkit store, and a few of the nationwide suppliers like Hamilton/Avnet had offices or even stocking locations scattered around town.

     Over the years, it faded away.  Graham was the first, sometime in the late 1980s or early 90s.  The Heathkit store closed when the parent company went under.  ESP was family-owned and the next generation wasn't interested; they served mostly the repair shops and that business was fading.  They closed over twenty years ago.  King Electronics held on for a long time, selling TV antennas, tools and classic radio parts along with the full line of modern components, but things dropped off after the 2009 digital TV change over.  In 2020, Meunier Electronics, a full-line stocking distributor with a magical showroom of odds and ends closed.  Radio Shack is long gone.

     There was an electronic surplus joint in town, too.  Milo Associates, Inc. (later MAI/Prime Parts) was in an old company office off Millersville Road when I first came to Indianapolis, with a small sign and not much publicity.  My co-workers at the radio station took me there, explaining "that guy has everything!"  They did, too -- logic ICs, op-amps, metal-film resistors, monolithic-film capacitors, stacks of defunct GRiD laptop computers, a zillion different control knobs, a few shelves of ancient test gear and old ham radio equipment, and on and on, all crowded onto rows of tall shelving or stacked on the floor.  They became my "source of last resort," and often first resort, too, a place where you could go in and lay hands on the actual stuff.  They moved a few times over the years, always in search of the lowest rent, and ended up in a drafty pole barn on Michigan Road.  Business fell off; they started selling repair parts for the heating and cooling trade, mostly as a middleman, but kept the electronic stuff, selling off the existing stock.  By the time the pandemic began, they were the last electronic parts place left in town.  I was there either right before March 2020, or during an early lull later that year, and picked up some parts for work and some "just in case" stock for my hobby supplies.  I stayed away during the pandemic.

     Yesterday, I thought to stop by after a dental appointment.  Their website was still up, mostly a line card and contact information.  I've got a project at work that needs some specific connectors, and it's always interesting to wander the aisles.  There were more cars parked in front of the shabby old building than I've become used to seeing over the last decade, and I perked up.  Maybe business was picking up!

     The glass door has always had dark film on it, I pushed it open -- on a vast and mostly empty room, with a workbench at the far end and power tools scattered around.  Men were working, and a guy in a vest and hardhat near the door asked, "Can I help you, Miss?"
     "Probably not.  I was looking for the business that used to be here."
     "Oh, they left."
     I thanked him and left, too.

     Later on, I called the number on their website and a familiar voice answered,  "Prime Parts."
     "Hey, it's Bobbi, from the TV station."
     "How ya doing?"
     "I'm okay, but where are you?"
     "Oh, we're just doing the HVAC parts now.  Been out on the far East side for a couple of years."
     "No electronics?"
     "Nope."

     So that's that.

     Looks like there a smallish hobby-parts place in Indianapolis near Park 100, and if you want anything else, well, there are still plenty of suppliers who can ship it to you in a few days -- as long as you know exactly what you want.  Digi-Key and Newark, Mouser and RS-Online (formerly Allied) are still there, online and over the phone; Antique Electronic Supply has parts for the old stuff (and there's a smattering of tube-audio enthusiast suppliers, the best of whom are very good), and between McMaster-Carr and the electrical-supply wholesalers, the bigger items aren't hard to come by.  But if you want to go somewhere and comb through bins of parts, hoping for inspiration?  Better find a hamfest.  And good luck with that.