About 25 years ago, retail computer parts stores were in every stripmall and abandoned Silo in OKC. Then came the "big box" version of it in CompUSA, which then folded, and it seemed that era was done.

Now perhaps it's making a comeback. "MicroCenter" is a growing nationwide chain of computer parts retail operations, featuring scads of inventory for everything from cases, CPU's, coolers, motherboards, drives, you name it. They are looking to expand. And I think OKC is at least a reasonable place to consider for one of their stores.

This place is like a Harbor Freight (or maybe IKEA) for computing equipment, where you can buy every piece of a custom setup a la carte OR pick from bundles with nice discounts.

It's been a long time since OKC had any kind of nice custom PC shop like this, and I hope they give us shot. I also realize it's probably wishful thinking, and likely better for my wallet if they don't LOL

About 25 years ago, retail computer parts stores were in every stripmall and abandoned Silo in OKC. Then came the "big box" version of it in CompUSA, which then folded, and it seemed that era was done.

Now perhaps it's making a comeback. "MicroCenter" is a growing nationwide chain of computer parts retail operations, featuring scads of inventory for everything from cases, CPU's, coolers, motherboards, drives, you name it. They are looking to expand. And I think OKC is at least a reasonable place to consider for one of their stores.

This place is like a Harbor Freight (or maybe IKEA) for computing equipment, where you can buy every piece of a custom setup a la carte OR pick from bundles with nice discounts.

It's been a long time since OKC had any kind of nice custom PC shop like this, and I hope they give us shot. I also realize it's probably wishful thinking, and likely better for my wallet if they don't LOL

This would be really fun! I miss PC Club (not sure if OKC had one, but I lived near the one in Tulsa at the time)!

About 25 years ago, retail computer parts stores were in every stripmall and abandoned Silo in OKC. Then came the "big box" version of it in CompUSA, which then folded, and it seemed that era was done.

Now perhaps it's making a comeback. "MicroCenter" is a growing nationwide chain of computer parts retail operations, featuring scads of inventory for everything from cases, CPU's, coolers, motherboards, drives, you name it. They are looking to expand. And I think OKC is at least a reasonable place to consider for one of their stores.

This place is like a Harbor Freight (or maybe IKEA) for computing equipment, where you can buy every piece of a custom setup a la carte OR pick from bundles with nice discounts.

It's been a long time since OKC had any kind of nice custom PC shop like this, and I hope they give us shot. I also realize it's probably wishful thinking, and likely better for my wallet if they don't LOL

This comment applies only to my meager tech knowledge and the 2 stores l have been in:

I have found Microcentet to be an excellent electronics store that seems to cater to all levels of gamers, techies and non-techies. l must, however, differ with you on your comparison to low cost/low(er) quality stores like IKEA and Harbor Freight. Microcenter has computing parts and equipment, as you say and you can get what you need to build your own computer as my 23 year old son did 3 years ago.

You can get your computer repaired, get upgrades, take classes and get help repairing/maintaining your own system. You can also buy name brand and Microcenter brand electronics (l highly recommend their store brand for average users like me both because of price and because their systems aren't pre-loaded with dozens of totally useless apps and programs that do nothing but take up space).

Their employees are generally very knowledgeable and can help you find the type of equipment you need. The only negative l have seen is, while their employees are very knowledgeable, they can be a little on the "not real socially adept" side.

This comment applies only to my meager tech knowledge and the 2 stores l have been in:

I have found Microcentet to be an excellent electronics store that seems to cater to all levels of gamers, techies and non-techies. l must, however, differ with you on your comparison to low cost/low(er) quality stores like IKEA and Harbor Freight. Microcenter has computing parts and equipment, as you say and you can get what you need to build your own computer as my 23 year old son did 3 years ago.

You can get your computer repaired, get upgrades, take classes and get help repairing/maintaining your own system. You can also buy name brand and Microcenter brand electronics (l highly recommend their store brand for average users like me both because of price and because their systems aren't pre-loaded with dozens of totally useless apps and programs that do nothing but take up space).

Their employees are generally very knowledgeable and can help you find the type of equipment you need. The only negative l have seen is, while their employees are very knowledgeable, they can be a little on the "not real socially adept" side.

I was making the HF/Ikea analogy more from a mass marketing concept than quality. I should have made that more clear. I absolutely am aware they offer the gamut of good quality components, not the flavor-of-the-month cheap imports that were the offering of the day in the old stripmall PC era.

About 25 years ago, retail computer parts stores were in every stripmall and abandoned Silo in OKC. Then came the "big box" version of it in CompUSA, which then folded, and it seemed that era was done.

Now perhaps it's making a comeback. "MicroCenter" is a growing nationwide chain of computer parts retail operations, featuring scads of inventory for everything from cases, CPU's, coolers, motherboards, drives, you name it. They are looking to expand. And I think OKC is at least a reasonable place to consider for one of their stores.

This place is like a Harbor Freight (or maybe IKEA) for computing equipment, where you can buy every piece of a custom setup a la carte OR pick from bundles with nice discounts.

It's been a long time since OKC had any kind of nice custom PC shop like this, and I hope they give us shot. I also realize it's probably wishful thinking, and likely better for my wallet if they don't LOL

I wish Fry's didn't go out of business. A trip to the Dallas area wasn't complete until I hit a Fry's store. There wasn't any place else where you could find 40 different cases and 40 different motherboards with all the components you need to build a computer. I've never been to MicroCenter but if they are anything like Fry's I would love to see one land here.

Next time you are in Dallas, check out Microcenter. If l recall, it's not far north of LBJ on Central.