On 1/16/2016 7:49 PM, rbowman wrote:
On 01/16/2016 01:52 PM, Don Y wrote:
From your past comments, you probably don't have a lot of LOCAL options
to buy those things? In a city of half a million -- in a metro area
of a million -- we have a fair bit more "local choices", I suspect.

Well, we do have a Harbor Freight

You laugh -- but I recall when my in-laws exclaimed over the arrival of a
McDonald's in their home town ("Hey, we must be on the map, now!")

What more could you want? And HF
definitely is a place where I want to hold and interview the merchandise.

Yup.

The basics are here; just don't get off the beaten track. Or bring your own
tube of vaseline if you're looking for a HDMI cable or such.

I've found that "basics" varies in parts of the country. E.g., I can
buy live *chicks* in the hardware store up the corner. And, bales of
hay down the street. But, it will cost me a 30 minute drive to buy
an overpriced capacitor at the *one* place in town that sells them!

I can *possibly* get a decent Italian meal if I go to one of the 4 stars
that cater to resort visitors. But, damn little else for more modest
tastes!

I had to bring almonds in from NYC as I couldn't find anyplace here
that sold *quality* nuts.

Oval head, 100 degree, clutch/torx/robertson/etc. screws are a chore
to locate; other markets I'd walk in to a hardware store and pick them
off a shelf. Buy a box of 100, here, and they look at like you as if you
must be in the "screw business"! :

Large metros have both better selections and better prices. I don't care that
much for the company but even for something like the new Cabelas in town, my
gut impression from a quick walk through was it wasn't as well stocked as the
one in Glendale.

Name (chain?) doesn't ring a bell.

Even that is a case in point. I bought a Kershaw knife that was labeled as
'reversible' for $70. Of course with the blister pack you can't tell much but
when I got home I found 'reversible' meant changing the clip for point up or
point down carry in your right hand pocket. So I hit the internet to see if
there was a left handed model. Turns out there isn't but I saw it on Amazon for
$38.13. So it meant a trip back to Cabelas, on the wrong side of town, to get
my $70 back.

I don't know if it would be cheaper in Glendale. I've never found Cabelas to be
very competitive.

Smaller markets give vendors too much control over prices. And, customers
alter their preferences to fit those choices -- so there's no pressure
on the store to change its selection or pricing.