Quote Originally Posted by N0NB View Post
Others that are long gone include Missouri Radio Center and Oklahoma Comm Center. I did a fair amount of business with each, MRC in the early years and OCC after I moved to Enid, OK in 1992. I stopped in at OCC in early 1992 fully intending to buy an Icom 2 m radio and walked out with a Yaesu 2 m radio! The Yaesu seemed better built and it was cheaper. I still have it and it is my most vintage rig.

At the same time in the early 1990s I started frequenting another store in Wellington, KS--Dandys owned by Norm, NI0S. It was primarily a Radio Shack store with an amateur radio section in the back. Around the mid-90s Norm sold it to Mark, KB0MOF, who moved the amateur radio portion to just south of Wichita in Derby, KS. It is known as "Derby Radio Shack" and Mark does a fair business. At the moment he has an almost complete Elecraft "K" Line consigned.

While some have been found in old ads, by the time I was licensed, all the radio stores in Nebraska had closed. Only Surplus Sales remains. Even HyGain is gone from the state.
A few memories there with your mention of OCC as they came into being at about the same time I became a ham in OKC. Nearly everybody involved with the store were members of the ham club I had joined. I was certainly sorry to see them go as a local source. They were bought out by Texas Towers, IIRC.

Your information on the history of the Derby RS store was also interesting. I've done business with them at the Claremore hamfest and found them to be excellent for customer service. I plan to drop by the actual store one of these days when I go to Kansas to visit my relatives in Wichita or my farm in Ellsworth.