My popz and I used to have to drive to the next state over to go to a Micro Center. We're talking a trip of a few hours one way. But when CompUSA closed down, Micro Center ended up moving into the vacant stores CompUSA left behind. My dad and I almost threw a parade. In the time since they've only spread throughout my state (I'm on the east coast). Over the past decade+ they've often had CPU prices way below online retailers. I saved almost $100 on my 5930K back in 2014 for example. For years Micro Center was the go-to place for CPUs around here. What the store is really handy for though is when you need to buy some simple adapter or cable or something you don't have on-hand but need when you're in the middle of a PC build, and don't wanna jump online and have to wait days (and often pay shipping) for sh1t to arrive. So long as the cost of gas spent on a trip to the store isn't more than you'd pay for shipping, it tends to work out. You can just run over to Micro Center real quick, grab what you need, and continue on with your build. RadioShack is not around anymore, and you can't rely on places like Best Buy. Every state needs a Micro Center.
I also use the store to test out different keyboard mechanical switches, and I like playing around with the PC demo kiosks they got set up. Like they got a triple-curved-monitor racing seat+wheel setup. I don't have any friends with setups like that, so Micro Center is where I can f*ck around with that kind of stuff. Same with HOTAS setups. Sometimes they have good bundle deals, like CPU+mobo combos. Still, I do most of my PC parts shopping online. I've had friends and clients do entire builds based off of sh1t they got at Micro Center. Some of the more impatient ones won't even buy parts (or most parts) for a build online, they'll roll over to Micro Center and grab sh1t there, My beef with that is Micro Center still can't match the variety of parts you can find online.
