G2 Holdings (Formerly Silicon Valley Electronic Recovery)
Converted to Ebay-only in late 2007/Early 2008, and displayed questionable selling practices. Listing removed accordingly, 7-Jun-2009.
G2's tale is, I'm sorry to say, more than a bit sordid, and it illustrates all too vividly what can happen to any organization, surplus places included, when someone who is obsessed solely with money takes over.
Said obsessed person, so I've been told, bears the name of Ben Weisshaut, a former employee of a computer memory maker called Wintech (no idea if they have any relation to Wintech Software). Mr. Weisshaut founded G2 as Silicon Valley Electronic Recovery back around 2007, and for a while they did pretty well.
Unfortunately, when they changed over to being G2, and converted to all-Ebay All The Time, their practices became somewhat less than ethical. The following are excerpts from an E-mail I received from a key source on June 6th, 2009, and they explain what happened just as well as I could.
For reasons which will become obvious, my source prefers to remain anonymous.
---------------------------
"The owner of the business, Ben Weisshaut, was a bigwig at Wintech, a
computer memory company, and was on their Board of Directors. Due to Wintech's
extensive customer base, Ben was able to secure surplus equipment deals via
the back door. He had Silicon Valley Recovery on the side selling this
equipment. Mostly it was a small, family-run business..."
"...Ben continued to be employed by Wintech until November of 2007. Whether Wintech got hip to his double-dipping as a conflict of interest, or he actually did want to devote full time to G2, he did finally leave Wintech."
"This is when everything changed. He was paranoid about theft, and people
coming into his warehouse and buying equipment too cheap. He even went so far
as to install surveillance cameras all over the building. In addition he put
locks on all the doors to the warehouse that required a fingerprint and
password to get in."
"He has no clue how the surplus world works. He slowly began to funnel all business towards e-commerce and eBay exclusively..."
"Their eBay practices are deplorable. Selling equipment in unknown condition as working got them into trouble often. When deserved negative feedback was left, G2 used negative feedback retaliation tactics to force customers to change their report. It was a battle trying to keep the feedback percentage from falling below eBay's acceptable level... I don't see them on eBay currently, and I wonder if they have been kicked off for this type of business practice..."
"Ben's greed drove the company in the wrong direction. My reputation being at stake and the lack of trust with Ben lead me to resign..."
-------------------------------
Thus endeth another potentially good surplus outlet, and what I've printed above squares well with the feedback comments I saw about G2 on Ebay, during the time they were selling. Indeed, I hope they have been kicked off. Apparently, they deserve nothing less.
Based on this information, I would say G2 Holdings is deserving of neither a listing on this site, nor your business as a scrounger. I would steer well clear of them.
The Boeing Surplus Retail Store, Kent, WA
Closed 21-Dec-07 due to (most likely) a really bad decision at the corporate level.
This one feels nearly as bad as losing Mike Quinn's place. The only difference is that I was in line early enough to watch them take the building signs down (I wonder if they sold them off as well?)
What can you say about a place that was an icon in the Pacific Northwest for 35 years? What can you say about a place that, despite the fact they didn't always have the best of deals on test gear or computers, had enough of them that it became near and dear for 14 years worth of shopping?
Boeing Surplus was, in part, a victim of changing times. The Boeing Company, as a whole, had slimmed down and outsourced so much that there was not a lot of true manufacturing left in the area. This meant that what was a great source of surplus has dried up quite a bit over the last decade or so.
However, I also think that the store was a victim of corporate short-sightedness and greed. Mary Armstrong, the former head of Boeing's Shared Services division, left SSG within a week or two after making the decision to shut the retail store down. She's now the head of Boeing's Environmental Practices division, or some such thing.
To some, this will not seem at all suspicious. To me, it looks too much like an executive polishing their resume before moving on to greener pastures, with the retail store being the sacrificial lamb, as it were.
Whatever the ultimate reason(s), it is important not to lose hope. I have establised a separate web page with further details on the closure, and what you, the readers of this site, can do about it if you so choose.
If you have one or more good surplus places in your area, treasure them! Never take them for granted!! It has become all too obvious to me that doing so can have nasty consequences.
Wacky Willy's, Portland, OR
Closed permanently at the end of September, 2006. Cause unknown.
I have to admit that it's kind of frightening to be writing the third memorial report in the same year. I wouldn't mind so much if new surplus places were springing up to replace those that go away. Unfortunately, such occurrences seem to be increasingly rare.
I got E-mail from Tony Gould (the owner of Cascade Surplus) in early September, 2006, telling me that Wacky Willy's Surplus is closing its doors permanently as of 30-Sep-06. Based on what I've heard from other scroungers, WW was Oregon's answer to Mike Quinn electronics. They seem to have held a similar place in the surplus history of the region, and in the hearts of those who were regulars.
I regret not having had the chance to know them a little better. My only impressions of them were from brief visits in 1994, 1999, 2005, and 2006 (August). The two visits in the 90's were the best of the lot, and things seemed to go progressively downhill from there.
Let this, and the other closures this year, serve as a reminder to all of us who enjoy tinkering with any form of tech-toys. NEVER TAKE ANY GOOD SURPLUS STORE OR DEALER FOR GRANTED! Treasure them all, fellow scroungers, and give them your business if they have what you want at a fair price!
Kaiser Technologies, Santa Clara, CA
Closed for all test gear and related sales sometime during summer, 2006. Exact date unknown, cause unknown.
The last report I had for Kaiser Technologies, as of 12-Sep-06, came from my phone call to them in an attempt to set up a visit. According to the person I spoke to, the last remaining holdout for the test gear side (Jan, Dan Burtis's former partner) was "no longer there," and the half of the building that had held the test gear had been completely cleaned out and sold off.
Given that, I don't hold out much hope for the rest of the place. It'll probably remain a computer recycler, but that's all. The Bay Area already has plenty of them, some of which you can actually buy useful things from. Not Kaiser (at least not any more).
HMR Recycling Retail Counter, San Francisco, CA
Closed approximately 6-Aug-06. Exact date unknown, exact reason unknown.
While the loss of almost any surplus place is something to be a little nervous about (as in "who's going next?"), I'm finding it awfully hard to shed any tears over this particular closure. When HMR started out several years back, they actually started out pretty decent. However, something nasty must have happened because they went from 'decent' to 'reprehensible' in the space of less than a year.
For example: During my 2005 scrounge run, I found the attitudes of their sales people to be exceedingly snooty, barely one step away from insulting. Couple that with the fact that their inventory didn't really have anything that couldn't be found elsewhere, often at a better price and without the snoot factor, and I really think they brought their downfall upon themselves.
Given that HMR appears to be continuing their recycling operations, and has not gone out of business as a company, I cannot ignore the possibility that they may pull a Phoenix number by opening up another retail counter. If they do choose to do so, I sincerely hope they learn -- and learn well! -- from their previous mistakes, and do things right the second time around.
Until then: May their original retail counter rest in peace(es). I certainly won't miss it.
House of Science, Ballard, WA
Closed within last year (2005-2006). Exact date unknown, owner went to different job.
House of Science is a unique loss, not just to the surplus arena as a whole but also to any experimenter who enjoyed tinkering with high-voltage goodies. This includes Tesla coils and Van de Graaf generators.
I recently (15-Jul-06) got an E-mail from the former owner, Kevin Hilbiber. He has settled in as a tech at Condor Electronics in Seattle (they repair pro music equipment). He's told me he still has some small bits of inventory from the old place, and lines on amateur radio gear as well. He can be reached during normal business hours at:
Condor Electronics
125 N 36th St
Seattle WA 98103
206-633-5190
Mike Quinn Electronics, San Leandro, CA.
Closed 31-Jan-06, most likely due to mismanagement.
Writing memorial notices for surplus places is far from my favorite duty, in terms of running this site. This is especially true where the store involved has been such a strong fixture in its native area (and beyond) for so many years, or when it had such a strong influence on the directions I chose to follow in my life.
Mike Quinn's was such a place. They got started just after WW II, and moved to the Oakland Airport area around 1963. I became aware of them (and started shopping there) in 1972, when I was barely 12 years old. I have lots of wonderful memories of many hours spent on a summer Saturday afternoon, poking around in their dusty old building at the north end of the Oakland Airport, rarely looking for anything in particular, and buying whatever I could afford whenever I could afford it (which, fortunately, was frequently).
I learned an awful lot about electronics from tinkering with the stuff I got from Quinn's, and I learned a great deal more about the surplus market from shopping there. Most recently, I learned that their closure was, apparently, due to a mismanagement problem that started only in the last decade or so, and got progressively worse. I'm not going to name names in public, but suffice to say that the primary reason for Quinn's decline and downfall seems to be that the owners and management simply didn't "get it" about the surplus business.
More specifically, they didn't seem to understand (or care) that you have to keep a steady stream of stuff flowing through if you hope to survive in the long run, and that your store has to have some semblance of organization so that buyers can find what they're after with a minimum of effort.
Quinn's, for all its 'techie charm,' was a horrendous mess in terms of organization. They badly needed to put things like test gear in one dedicated area, and various types of components in others. They also needed (equally badly!) a lot more square footage than they had at the San Leandro location. Above all else, though, they needed fresh inventory! Put all those factors together, and their demise seems sadly inevitable.
Quinn's touched a lot of people in their time, most far better known than myself; George Morrow, Bill Godbout, and numerous other computer pioneer's names can be found among their past customers. Mike Quinn himself, and his employees, helped the 'computer revolution' in many ways. I think it is safe to say that the world of personal computing, at least in the Bay Area, would have been wildly different had it not been for the Man and the Place.
No surplus store can last forever. That's a given. However, Quinn's gave it a bloody good try. I'm sure that they will be remembered and spoken of in Bay Area electronics circles for years to come.
If you've read this far, please take a moment to remember Mike and his store. Although I didn't know Mike that well before he passed on (I was too young and ignorant at the time to appreciate who I was talking to), I'd like to think, wherever he is now, that he'd appreciate it.
Thanks, Mike, Vinnie, and Jay. For everything.
Northwest Surplus Electronics, Eugene, OR.
Got out of the surplus business around September of 2004.
Nothing sinister or greedy here. According to a chat I had with the owner, he simply decided to get out of the surplus business and go to selling all new stuff. Due to that change, they became simply 'Northwest Electronics,' and they no longer qualify for a listing here.
Electronica Computer Clearance Center, Santa Clara, CA.
Transitioned to all-Ebay sales, 30-Oct-05.
Again, nothing really sinister here, unless you count the overpricing of retail space in the Silly-Con Valley in a post dot-bomb era. Electronica was a short-term (less than six months) phenomenon, but they had tremendous potential. Regrettably, it seems they felt it necessary to transition to Ebay-only sales, without any kind of bricks-and-mortar storefront. The rent for said storefront was, apparently, too high for their comfort.
They're still very much worth buying from, though I don't know what their Ebay ID is. Their prices on accessory boards, servers, and networking goodies were some of the best I'd seen in years.
Haltek Electronics, formerly at 1062 Linda Vista Ave., Mountain View, CA.
FORCED OUT OF BUSINESS: 28-Apr-00
The circumstances under which this closing took place were not pleasant. It seems that Haltek's landlord, who apparently decided to demonstrate what a GPF (Greedy Pinhead Fsck) s/he/it could be, started working behind Haltek's back to find another tenant. Haltek was never told about this until the last moment.
One was, apparently, found, and it was one that offered to pay the land-ass involved about twice what Haltek could afford. The land-ass, in essence, told Haltek to pack up and leave. No arguments, no negotiation, no helping them to find another spot. It was a matter of "I've found someone that'll pay twice what you will. Get out!"
This entire event bothers me deeply, not so much because we lost a good surplus store, that would likely have kept on going indefinitely, but because what happened was done entirely in the name of greed, and in an underhanded manner to boot.
Please don't get me wrong, BTW. I don't have a problem with anyone earning enough to make a decent living, or with companies turning a reasonable profit. What I DO have a serious problem with is the mindset of much of our current culture, which seems to worship the Almighty Dollar above all other values.
In summary: Haltek was unfairly forced out of business by a greedy jackass of a landlord who didn't give an aerial intercourse through a toroidal pastry who they hurt, or how unethical they were acting, as long as they got paid. Said land-ass went for short-term gain over long-term stability, and we (hobbyists, scroungers) all get screwed over as a result, along with Haltek's former employees.
The ironic part is that it's entirely possible the landlord could end up being worse off than if they'd just let Haltek stay put. They had been there for at least 25 years, and probably would have been content to just stay there as long as they could. This means that the building they were in is pretty run-down, and it would have needed major remodeling, inside and out, before it could take another tenant.
There is, however, a silver lining to this story, at least if you think of it as poetic justice. It seems that the deal with the tenant that was going to move in after Haltek left fell through. I don't think the new tenant ever moved in. If they did, it was a very short stay.
But wait, there's more, and it just keeps getting better! Within one year of Haltek's enforced departure, the tenant of the building directly across from them, owned by the same land-ass, vacated and moved to the northern valley, near Sacramento. This means that said land-ass had, all of a sudden, not one but TWO very expensive (in terms of property taxes) empty buildings to worry about. I can only guess what the combined costs did to s/he/its bank account!
Want more? You got it, and it STILL gets better! I did a drive-by with a friend of mine in September 2002, and both buildings were STILL completely empty of tenants! The same in 2003 with another drive-by, same time of year. This means that the land-ass has been stuck with some very nasty property taxes for at least two years!
Here's the really juicy part. My buddy and I did another drive-by in Sep. 2004, just barely two weeks ago at the time of this writing. Both buildings, at first glance, appeared to still be very empty of tenants, and the awning out front had, somehow, gotten a big hole torn in it and looked really tacky.
"But what's this?" we said to each other, as we spotted an open window on the second floor. A closer look revealed what looked very much like personal effects on the window sill, and hangings on the walls. In short, it appeared that someone was actually living, as in taken up residence, in Haltek's old building.
This is, as one might imagine, a blatant violation of City of Mountain View zoning codes, to say nothing of fire codes, because the building and surrounding area is zoned as commercial and light-industrial.
Then we looked downstairs. What did we see but piles and piles and MORE piles of gunky-looking cardboard boxes and other flammables, all stacked at least six feet high up against the windows and all OVER the lower floor!
My friend and I decided that this simply would not do. So, when I got back from the trip, I placed a call to the City of Mountain View's Code Enforcement unit, and gave them full details of what we'd seen. They were quite surprised, yet quite happy, to hear about such wild violations of city codes, and promised to have an inspector look things over post-haste.
I don't know for certain, but I would guess that the land-ass responsible for the building was getting so desperate for a tenant that he was willing to ignore local codes just to get some cash flowing in from the place. I really hope that my call put a crimp in that particular plan.
Anyway, I've not heard any more as of 25-Sep-04. I'm going to ask my friend in the Bay Area to do a drive-by in the near future, and see if there have been any further changes. I'll post any fresh news I get to this page.
UPDATE: New information as of 5-Nov-04 .
A fellow scrounger in the Bay Area has informed me that there is more to the Haltek story than meets the eye. I'm attaching a relevant excerpt from his E-mail to me below. Thanks to Dave DiGiacomo.
"There is more to the Haltek story than you mention. I think the
property was owned by Test Lab Company. When DoveBid bought Test Lab Co
as part of the run up to one of their failed IPO attempts, Mike Magown
moved the operation to Roseville. That was why they wanted to get Haltek
off the property too. If this theory is correct, DoveBid acquired Test
Lab Co's (tiny) property tax basis along with the property, so it's not
costing them much.Also, if you dealt much with Chris Chalfont, you know that his heart wasn't
in the surplus business. He didn't really try to find a new location or
sell the business..."
After I queried him as to whether Chris Chalfont was Haltek's owner, and why he didn't try to preserve the place, this is what I got back.
>>Also, if you dealt much with Chris Chalfont, you know that his heart wasn't
>>in the surplus business. He didn't really try to find a new location or
>>sell the business.
>
>I assume he was the owner of Haltek? I can't say that I recall meeting
>him. I'm puzzled, though... If his heart wasn't really in the business,
>why did Haltek last as long as they did?"He didn't have it for that long, maybe 3-4 years? He decided to move to
San Diego, rather than move the store.I forget who was running it before that. Someone even grouchier than
Chris..."
Update, 25-Sep-06:
I received E-mail today from a Bay Area scrounger who was very familiar with the early history of Haltek and Halted. He provided some fascinating insight on just how closely connected the two were at one time (it appears, in fact, that they were founded by the same guy).
With that in mind, here are his comments, verbatim, just as I received them. The longer sentences have been broken into paragraphs for easier reading, but I have not made any other changes.
The contributor will remain anonymous by request.
"Hello!
I just happened onto your web page while getting ready fro a trip to the
Valley, and saw the pieces you had written about Haltek and it's
history. I lived in San Jose for 30 years, canvassing for good buys at
the electronics surplus stores, and have a bit of history to give you on
Halted, Haltek etc..*Hal* Elzig (see the connection) started his operation in an open yard.
Storage carport sort of venue around Moffett Field circa 1968-69. I
worked summers out there for parts just during my first year of college
at SJ State. Huge place, maybe five acres or more. The surplus hounds
found and loved this place- it was out of the way, not a storefront, and
he moved TONS of new inventory weekly. He was selling mil-grade hermetic
power and audio transformers by the 55 gallon barrel for a few bucks.He then renamed the outfit Halted (Hal and Ted someone) and eventually
moved it to the place in Mtn View. He sold the company (Lord knows why,
maybe his partner wanted out) to Jim Trees and had a non-compete
agreement for perhaps three years. He inteneded to go into the
"wholesale business" but missed the people contact too much, so he
started Haltek (Hal's Tech stuff).He was around forever, and I remember going in one time and meeting his daughter (a tall blonde), who was going to take care of the business as Hal had some kind of medical problem. Smoking probably got him. From that point the place went downhill in a hurry, with people I didn't know running it (maybe in-laws or something?). From there on out, I think you have the story quite accurately.
I love the trips to places rich in surplus gear from the hi-tech workd,
and silicaon valley has treasures beyond nelief, it is entirely too bad
now that many of the companies have gone under and so much found it's
way to landfills. Someday someone will find an absolute treasure trove
buried around Moffett and Mountain View and the Guadalupe dump!
For the record, I hope he's right. Just as one example, the Bay Area badly needs a good source of used test equipment at the moment
Update, 2-Jan-05: Back in early December '04, I got a couple of E-mails from a long-time friend and fellow electronics hack in the Bay Area, one who happens to have some fairly deep connections in the surplus industry. He was able to shed some more light on the Mystery of Haltek. However, he will remain anonymous due to personal request.
"Hey Bruce,
Hadn't read through your surplus list in a while, and was particularly interested in the info on Haltek. I can't confirm any of this to the degree I'd want to be quoted online, other than maybe in a speculative/anonymous sense,but this is my own particular slant on the Haltek deal.
When I first became aware of Haltek, from a business sense, was dealing with the former owner Jim Trees, who used to occasionally buy stuff from us, usually test equipment. Jim was always a friendly and upstanding guy and good to deal with. Jim decided to semi-retire probably 15 years ago or a bit more, and split off his test equipment to form Test Lab Co. across the street.
The remaining Haltek was bought by Oracle, although I don't know the exact arrangements as to who was running it. My dealings with them after that were only as a customer on a personal basis. They decided it wasn't profitable enough (or wasn't a worthwhile writeoff?) and it was sold again to JDR Microdevices (Jeff Rose), or to someone somehow connected with them, primarily as an outlet for their not-catalog-worthy surplus inventory.
As far as I know, this was the ownership in effect when they were forced out in the Dot Con / Milk the Property Values For All They're Worth scam (which also forced Alltronics out of their San Jose location, not to mention countless other long term businesses in the south bay...). I can't confirm any of this other than to say this was the understanding I got from working in the business, so if someone has more specific or more credible info I'll defer to their version. But thought I'd share my take on it anyway, in case it might fill in a couple blanks..."
I stopped seeing old JDR stock at Haltek about a year or so before they went away. JDR is still around (much to my surprise), although they do not qualify for a listing on this site because they don't appear to sell any surplus hardware (or, if they do, they're below the 50% threshold required to qualify).
Here's my $0.02 worth. I would speculate that Haltek's being bought out by Oracle, even temporarily, was most likely the Beginning of the End for them. I have since learned (as of 26-Apr-07) that this is NOT the same Oracle that's owned by Larry Ellison, but a place known as 'Oracle Electronics & Trading.' I know nothing else about them other than that they are (so I've been told) long since out of business..
JDR is a more interesting case. They did, at one time, sell surplus hardware and old stock right out of their retail location on Bascom Ave. However, to my eyes, the surplus stock always looked a bit out of place considering how downright polished the rest of the store was. My guess is that JDR management did want to sell the old stuff instead of just pitching it, but they also didn't want the "junky" look of surplus in their nice, clean, "Yeek" (my abbreviation for 'yuppie-geek') store.
Let me digress a moment to expand on that term. I have, during my travels, encountered several unpleasant people who have the delusion that the entire world of electronics revolves around the PC, and that the sole extent of the world of electronic surplus is a six-month old motherboard. They have little or no knowledge of even basic electronic theory, and they wouldn't know what to do with a multimeter or oscilloscope if you hit them over the head with one. They do, however, usually have the ability to fit Part A into Slot B, given explicit step-by-step instructions.
Show them a real Technoid's haven, like ACE, Weird Stuff, or Excess Solutions, and they'll take one look at what (to the uninitiated) looks like a dingy, dusty, warehouse full of "junk" and promptly toss it off as unworthy of their time. In fact, any tech place that isn't spic-and-span (just like JDR), and that lacks spiffy-looking salespeople, will get ignored or dissed no matter how valuable it may truly be.
These are also the kind of people who may enjoy the Internet, but they have not the slightest clue as to the nature of its infrastructure, its history, or its long-time 'Rules of the Road.' Many of them seem to think that the WWW is, in fact, the entirety of the Internet, and that they know everything there is to know about it just because they're experts at web-surfing. These are also the folks who send HTML-bloated E-mails, with all kinds of fancy colors and flashing text, simply because they can, and with no regard for the fact that many mail client programs can not (and do not, by intelligent design) decode HTML.
More specifically and simply: They think they know a lot more than they really do, and they're too lazy or incompetent to really learn electronics. They enjoy pumping themselves up by piecing together easily-assembled parts, and they will go to a great deal of trouble to maintain their self-made illusion. If they happen to meet up with a real tech or engineer, or anyone else who shows the slightest bit of real knowledge, they will often try to start a technical discussion, or slip into one that's already in progress.
That's when the Yeek's true colors show. Because they lack the background to make intelligent conversation about the very technology they're so enamored with, they will usually shoot themselves in the foot within minutes, and they will actually have the temerity to argue a point that even a first-year tech knows is Just Plain Wrong.
And that's the story behind the term 'Yeek.'
Back to Haltek. JDR probably saw them as a neat way to get rid of their surplus, yet keep things clean. Then, as my friend pointed out in his missive above, the Dot Bomb hit and property values went nuts. JDR, now perceiving Haltek as the same "Loss Leader" that Oracle Electronics no doubt bought them for, dumped them.
I will happily correct any or all of the above if any of the Technoid's readers know a different story. It still appears that Haltek was unnecessarily and unfairly forced out of business, though the circumstances may not have been as sinister as I had initially heard.
Sharon Industries, formerly at 672 Commercial St., San Jose.
Disappeared without notice sometime in 2003.
The demise of Sharon Industries was another sad one for me. They were, in the computer and network sense of the word, the Mike Quinn Electronics of the south bay. Prices were really good, as was the service, and the owner was always willing to share a bottle of water, chilled juice, or some blackberries.
I really have no idea what happened to them. One year they were there, the next they'd disappeared. If any of you reading this happen to know where they went, or how they came to vanish into the wind, I'd like to hear from you.
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