If you don’t know about Micro Center, let me fill you in real fast. Imagine a Best Buy for PC building nerds—and that’s welcoming to all. While these stores house rows and rows of PC components, their knowledgeable staff are equipped to help everyone, no matter how big or small the technical issue is. You can also pick up pre-built PCs assembled in-house if you prefer not to DIY, or even just get general tech gadgets.
Not many locations exist—just 28 stores across the continental United States. But a 29th has been slated to open in Santa Clara, California, and those of us in the San Francisco Bay Area have been antsy about this homecoming. That wait will be soon over: This morning, my colleague Mark Hachman got the first hint of an opening date: May 2025.
Our contact at Micro Center says a more specific date is currently unavailable, and also used the phrase “planning for May.” Still, this info is enough to kick my excitement into overdrive. Normally, I have a neutral attitude toward businesses. But I love Micro Center deals—their in-store-only sales are legendary. Their most epic to date is still the $130 Ryzen 7 2700X during Black Friday, just a year and a half after the CPU’s launch. Since these loss leaders are in-store only, though, you have to actually…be near one to take advantage.
Our closest one in the Bay Area is a six-hour drive away. (My colleague Gordon Mah Ung used to propose organizing a party bus to take all us NorCal nerds to Tustin, California for this purpose.)
Speaking of Black Friday bargains, Micro Center typically also offers bundle discounts—buying a qualifying motherboard with a CPU deal often slices another $20 to $40 off the total. Whenever I can, I try to squeeze in nods to Micro Center deals in my yearly article detailing the best cheap Black Friday PC builds possible.
Anyway, I may not know exactly when in May the Santa Clara location is opening, but the two-month wait is a good thing. That gives me time to start saving for my first visit. The weather will also be much nicer then in Santa Clara—so if people behave as they normally do and camp out, it’ll be far more pleasant.
Author: Alaina Yee, Senior Editor, PCWorld
A 14-year veteran of technology and video games journalism, Alaina Yee covers a variety of topics for PCWorld. Since joining the team in 2016, she’s written about CPUs, Windows, PC building, Chrome, Raspberry Pi, and much more—while also serving as PCWorld’s resident bargain hunter (#slickdeals). Currently her focus is on security, helping people understand how best to protect themselves online. Her work has previously appeared in PC Gamer, IGN, Maximum PC, and Official Xbox Magazine.