269 Electronics

On the way home from work today I stopped by 269 Electronics in Chinatown. From the outside this looks like a typical Canal Street junk store, with a big spread of knockoff watches, perfume, mp3 players, etc. on display. However in the back they have a special counter area devoted to electronic components. One wall was covered with electrolytic capacitors and diodes in blister packs. The clerk I spoke to said they had other discrete components, like transistors and resistors, in an array of drawers in the back. He pulled out an NTE catalog for me to look through when I asked them what they stocked. They also had bins of various loose connectors, copper-plated PCBs, perf board, battery holders, multimeters, Velleman kits, and lots of other odds and ends on display. Bottom line: it’s not exactly Fry’s, but for hardware hackers in New York City, it’s definitely on the short list of places to get parts when you can’t wait for an overnight delivery from DigiKey or Mouser. Check it out yourself sometime:

269 Electronics Inc.
269 Canal St.
New York, NY 10013
(212) 625-0405
Open Monday-Saturday 10:00 am – 6:30 pm

More photos after the break:

It looks like Phil Torrone of Make Magazine posted some of his own pics last year on the Make Blog.