I live on the north side of Chicago (near Irving and Western) and am looking for a decent electronics store where I can get ICs, resistors, caps, etc. I know Radio Shack has some of that stuff but they are a)kind of pricey and b)always trying to sell me a cellphone plan when all I want is a zener diode.
Anyone on here live in Chicago and know of some decent places? I've tried google/the phone book and it's hard to search for electronics and not just come up with a list of Best Buys.
If you have a car and don't mind driving a bit, there's a Fry's in Downers Grove, just off the I-88 tollway. They have a decent selection of components on the shelf, but I've never seen ICs in there.
Hope you find something closer, but at least you know they're there.
American Science and Surplus might have what you're looking for. But given the random nature of their inventory odds are they won't. And they won't be particularly helpful in finding a specific part (at least IME).
It is a fun place to just browse around though . . .
Something else to keep in mind: Electronics outlets (as in "discrete components") in the US are few and far between; most of those that do exist only have online storefronts. Even the surplus outlets.
Indeed, we have one surplus outlet here in Phoenix that is pretty large called "Electronic Goldmine" - even though I live here, you can only purchase from them online.
Fortunately, we have another that isn't (Apache Reclamation and Electronics); though if they were smart they would go online - I can easily see why online works better (when you stock as much as ARE does, the mess gets big fast).
New electronics are pretty much limited to online only, with the exception of the few NTE supplied components at some Frys electronics stores (which I imagine they are phasing out - the stock doesn't move quick enough for a store of their size, and takes up valuable floor space).
American Science and Surplus is pretty much your only option in the Chicago area. You probably won't find any IC's there, but you can always find motors and other mechanical parts. Their Geneva/West Chicago location is only about 30 mins from me and I visit it on a regular basis. Their website doesn't necessarily represent what is at their retail locations. You can almost consider it a separate entity.
I haven't ordered from here before, but they are in Downers Grove... http://www.trossenrobotics.com/ They are not a retail store, but will let you come and pick things up if you call ahead.
And of course I need to advertise for myself http://www.jkdevices.com. While I don't have many products listed in my online store yet, I do have a very extensive collection of the most common parts and IC's. Just email me a list of what you are looking for. These will eventually be listed in the online store and I will also allow customers to pick things up if they call ahead. My goal is to eventually have a retail location, but it will probably be in DeKalb so you are looking at an hour drive from Downtown Chicago.
Another thing to look at is shipping times from all the distributors to the Chicago Area.
Digi-Key
-UPS Ground - 3 days
-USPS Priority Mail - 2 days
Mouser
-UPS Ground - 2 days
-USPS Priority Mail - Supposed to be 2 days but usually 3 or 4
Trossen Robotics
-UPS Ground - next day
-USPS First Class - 1 - 2 days (usually 1) not sure if they ship first class
-USPS Priority Mail - next day
JK Devices
-UPS Ground - next day
-USPS First Class - 1 - 2 days (usually 1)
-USPS Priority Mail - next day
Jameco
-UPS or USPS Priority Mail - 3-5 days
Sparkfun & Modern Device are probably similar to Jameco
