I wandered over to find Dick Smith's somewhere in silicon valley (first US store?) at some point. Other than that, it was an Aussie thing, right?

It was an Australian thing, although it's (sadly) gone now.

It's in a better place now. We can remember it as it was, back in the glory days, instead of the failed Harvey Norman wanna-be that it became.

Jaycar took up the mantle of the hobbyist electronics store years ago anyway.

Does anyone know how Jaycar are doing these days?

Apparently OK:

http://www.afr.com/real-estate/jaycar-founder-offers-way-out...

I remember those books from my childhood too. Definitely helped foster my interest in electronics and programming, it's a shame that they are less common now than they used to be.

It was also great for father-son bonding, having him help my with the projects and teaching me how to solder.

Yep, I remember having one of those too. Poor DSE, having to be a second-rate consumer electronics store all these years.