Chancery Lane
CARDIGAN
Ceredigion
West Wales UK
SA43 1HD
Just a “Stones Throw” from Cardigan Castle - On Beautiful Cardigan Bay - West Wales - UK.
Cardigan’s Longest Established Family Variety Store.
© COPYRIGHT NOTICE: All Images and text on this site are the © Copyright of Mike’s Shop and Cardigan Electronics. Product images may also be Copyright of individual suppliers and manufacturers. No Copyright material here shown may be reproduced elsewhere without the express permission of www.Mikes Shop.co.uk
Down the sides of this page are some of our staff who have served you over the last 35 years or so.
Nintendo Game Boy
We still have one in working order.
Many younger customers are surprised when they learn we have been retailing in Cardigan since 1980. We must be doing SOMETHING right!
As Cardigan Electronics, we were one of the first computer retailers in West Wales. Our records show that in our first 15 years we sold around 3,000 Home Computers and Game Consols, including all those shown on this page.
On Christmas Eve 1983 we were still unpacking, upgrading and testing a late delivery of 100 BBC Computers on the kitchen table.
Our first computer was the Acorn Atom, followed by the Sinclair ZX81 and Commodore 64.
All from a little shop in Cardigan. Our customers came from far and wide, including regulars from as far as Shrewsbury. Pioneering days indeed.
We even assembled our own Electronics Kits, to let beginners build small projects.
Another of our own in house gadgets was a “Light Pen” allowing budding graphics artist to paint directly on the screen with a light sensitive pen.
MORE FACTS TO FOLLOW SOON and the computers below will be named.
* 3,000 Sq Ft, on Two Floors and a Mezzanine Floor.
* Around 2,000 Sq Ft of Wall Panels.
* Over 9,000 Lines in All, from 2p to £250
* Around 6,000 lines at £1 or Less.
* For Shop Hours, our Address, telephone number etc go to “Contact Us” page.
It all really started in 1975
I started the business in 1975 when I became self employed on leaving the Royal Air Force at RAF Aberporth as a Chief Technician aged 33, after a 17 year career on Radar and Guided Weapons. (Including six+ years on Trials at the Bloodhound Firing Unit, at the Royal Aircraft Establishment at nearby Parclyn.)
After leaving the service, I initially worked from home servicing Colour TV and Hi-fi, which was somewhat of an anticlimax to say the least.
As Cardigan Electronics, we sold around 3,000 Home Computers & Games Consol’s in the first fifteen pioneering years from 1980.
* Mike’s site will be of interest mainly to customers living within shopping distance of Cardigan, (20 miles,) and those who will be visiting the area on holiday.
* Think of the site as a “Browsing Catalogue” of our many interesting and “useful” product lines with some amazing value for money prices. There are however thousands of small products, like hardware nut & bolt packs etc, that I just cannot spare time to list on-line at present.
* We’ve recently had unexpected telephone enquiries from far afield for various large Wham! products. However, much as we appreciate the interest, at this time we just do not have the facilities or infrastructure to trade on line. Sometimes the carriage cost exceeds the value of the goods. We might be able to help you find a local independent stockist nearer home. Mike
By 1987, we had outgrown our first shop, and with the help of my family and our one young employee, Robert (Bob) Howells, we moved into and fitted out our current premises when they came up for sale in June.
During that re-fit I was approached by Brian Bennet of Tandy Inc. (USA) to take on a RadioShack Dealership in Cardigan, (see local paper notice below,) and for the next decade became one of the busiest Tandy Dealers in Wales until Tandy pulled out of the UK in the late 90’s. Mike
To survive the 93’ - 95’ recession, and any others that followed, (Yes, this one), we made physical and financial changes to our business, to include the family “variety store” we have evolved into today.
Cardigan Electronics
Cardigan Electronics is our original name from September 1980.
In the first 15 years we sold over 3,000 home computers, over 1,000 TV’s, and hundreds of Satellite systems, (when the dishes were 6 feet across, and all the films were free,) and a wide selection hobby electronic components.
Many school children made projects with our parts and kits. Some tell us they went on to careers in Electronics or Computing because of our shop.
For over 10 years from 1987 we were a Tandy Dealer selling the full range of RadioShack® products from the USA until they pulled out of UK.
The store changed in 1995 with the recession to Mike’s Shop to cater for a wider family customer base, when the men and boys were hit for cash.
About 1/3rd of our sales are Electrical Electronic, but we no longer sell loss making products like TV or computers etc, but specialise in radio’s accessories and batteries. We still sell RadioShack ® Accessories from the USA.
This side of the business, which is run by Mike’s son and partner Chris, is to have a website of it’s own soon at www.cardiganelectronics.co.uk .
The site is running as a holding page at present, to be replaced by full site when completed
The new site will show most of the Electrical and Electronic accessories that we stock, and do not have space for on our “Mikes Shop” site.e.
RadioShack ® Dealer
On the 1st of September 1980 I opened my shop in Chancery Lane. We sold Electronic components, TV’s and, by 1981, Cardigan’s first Home Computers and Satellite TV, when the dishes were 6 feet across, and the film channels were FREE.
NO MORE WEB DESIGN COMPANIES PLEASE.
WE KNOW THIS WEB SITE COULD BE IMPROVED, BUT WE ARE CAPABLE OF DOING SO OURSELVES IF NEEDS ARISE.
The Computer Years: 1980 -1995 - We sold ALL these computers except the PET
In June 1987 Mike purchased the Paint & Wallpaper shop, Homeflair, further down the lane and proceeded to “fit it out” with tons of chipboard and gallons of paint. We moved in by September ready for the Christmas trade. Then along came a Tandy rep and we became a major Tandy dealer for the next 14 years until they pulled out of the UK.
Below is a selection from that period.
The Following 18 photographs were all taken summer 1987
By the Early 1990’s sales of computers had REALLY taken off.
We not only sold the computers and software, but items like Plotters and ROBOTIC ARMS. At this time we were still Cardigan Electronics.
We also supplied Schools for a number of years.
At 2015 Robotics is main stream, but WE were selling Robot arms as far back as 1991 as the following photograph shows.
The Following photographs were taken from 1989 to 1993
We have been retailing here in Chancery Lane now for an unbelievable 35 years.
Many of the early-teen children who visited our shop when we opened in 1980 looking wide eyed at our computers and music keyboards are now Grandparents ,and their Grandchildren are now some of our customers.
This month, I thought you would might find it interesting to see a few photographs from those days. Below.
In September they will be moved to “Our Shop History Pages”
THE FIRST GROUP OF PHOTOGRAPHS BELOW WERE TAKEN IN IN 1983 IN OUR FIRST SHOP IN CHANCERY LANE OPPOSITE THE TOILETS AND WOOLWORTH’S
(Now the Factory Shop)
It was amazing just how much we packed in the shop. We traded from there as Cardigan Electronics, and were there for seven years.
Most Computer Games Software was on Cassette Tapes in those early days.
Fitting the all important TV and VHF Aerials.
Computers and Robotics on the top floor. Circa 1991
Ground floor counter- Note the Colour Copier behind the counter in 1987. We have been providing a copier service since 1983.
The Head-phone Bar on the Top Floor.
The new counter on the Ground Floor
Bob on the left, Chris on the right.
80 Sheets of chipboard to paint.
The Top Floor when it was empty.
Computer Software racks on the ground floor.
In the 90’s recession many of our customers just “ran out of spare money” and we had to make BIG changes to survive, over a four year period.
YOU MAY NEED TO CLICK REFRESH OR RELOAD IN YOUR BROWSER TO SEE REGULAR UPDATES
For about 6 years in the 90’s we sold
ORION TELESCOPES.
Including 10 inch Reflectors costing upwards of £600
And Electric cars for Children- £400 to £500
EVERY PAGE OF THIS SITE IS UNDERGOING A MAJOR OVERHAUL AND UPDATE ON A DAILY BASIS THRU’ AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER.
PLEASE CALL BACK FROM TIME TO TIME.
Sadly, RadioShack ® went Bankrupt in the winter of 2015. They had such large debt that no company could afford to take them over so the company was broken up and sold piece-meal, meaning the RadioShack products we still have in our shop will most likely be the last. They are unobtainable from any other supplier we know of at this time. Mike 3/9/15
Our Tandy - RadioShack® years. 1987 to 2005
Every year Tandy & RadioShack ® produced an amazing free Electronics Catalogue showing all their products.
For “old times sake” I have added below a few “Tandy Flyer” front covers, Christmas Flyers, and a selection of pages from the 1987-88 Electronics Catalogue. OUR first year with Tandy.
The nearest supplier to RadioShack in the UK now is Maplin, but RadioShack were king in their time. At least Maplin are still in business. Unfortunately RadioShack® went bankrupt in the USA in the winter of 2015 due mainly to bad management.
Any RadioShack® products you still see in our shop are the last, and will no longer be obtainable from the USA from 2015-16. A shame as the quality was second to none.
Work is still in progress, but clicking the first few catalogue images below will enlarge them. Using Ctrl+ and CTRL- will also enlarge them to suit your screen. (@ Sept 2nd 2015)
Audio and Hi-Fi on the Top Floor
The Tandy Christmas Flyer 1991
Our shop stocked most products every Christmas
The Tandy Christmas Flyer eight years later in 1999
Our shop stocked most products every Christmas.
BBC Micro- Model B- 32K
We still have one in working order. 32 Years
Commodore 64 - 32K
We still have one in working order.
Amstrad PCW 8256
Dot Matrix Printer
Acorn Archimedes A400 Series
We still have one in working order.
Acorn Archimedes A400 Series
We still have one in working order.
Psion Organiser 32K
We still have one in working order.
Atari 2600 Games Consol - 1981
We still have one in working order.
Sega Master System
We still have one in working order.
Sega Mega Drive
We still have one in working order.
Tandy 102 Portable Computer - 24K
£401 in 1987
We still have one in working order after 28 years - RadioShack Quality.
Amstrad PCW 9512
Daisy Wheel Printer
Acorn RISC PC - First ARM RISC Chip
We still have one in working order.
