Round here we had Gem Electronics and Lafayette Radio Electronics and lots of small radio, electronics and parts stores on and around Canal street in NYC. We had a Lafayette Electronics about a couple miles from my home and I remember one day when i was home sick from school, suffering from bronchitis and the doctor came over and had to give me a shot of adrenaline to counter an asthma attack I was having. Not more than 20 minutes later and as soon as my folks left for work I was feverishly pedaling my bike over to Lafayette to get some parts for a project. Had my folks known what I was doing they would have shot me. :) When I finally got there I found Lafayette was out of stock on at least half the parts I needed. Lafayette stores was infamous for always being out of stock on almost everything. I wound up getting the rest of what I needed down on Canal Street a few weeks later.

Also, in NYC in the area where the World Trade Center was built, and once stood, that area was once known as "radio row". In the 1920's through the 1960's it was loaded with radio and electronics stores.