No. I see those occupying the approximate space as Radio Shack and
Maplin used to, and in the same period (pre-2000) they would stand in
contrast to component level only supplies like Radio Spares etc. The
kit market in electronics never really reached the level of say the
kit-car industry, or marine design space where very detailed hull and
outfitting plans would be sold alongside specialist materials and
support. What was going on in that space was almost like flat-pack
furniture; a full product but with highly customisable self-labour.
Oddly, flat-pack furniture has become the norm and self-assembly is
expected for most products. Obviously this has to do with size,
weight, shipping etc.
I guess we're seeing different things? I just got back into hobby electronics and the kit market in electronics seems pretty healthy. I mean, I don't have any hard numbers, but there's a lot of activity.
- - - -
To me the sequence of events in the RepRap (self-printable 3D printers concept) space is very telling: the middle ground between hobbyists and professionals seems to have hollowed out. You can design a part and have it printed and shipped to you within days, of pretty much arbitrarily high quality, involving plastic, metal, rubber, etc...
Or you can get a kit for a 3D printer, but it will take time before you can actually print well enough to do anything useful, in the sense of being economically competitive with the 3D print shops or e.g. the Daiso chain.
Daiso is incredible. You can outfit an enter household with quality items for just a dollar or two each. Average item price is about $1.75 I'd guess. That covers the entire thing: raw materials, design, manufacturing, distribution, profit, etc... You're just not going to beat that with a toy 3D printer on your kitchen table, eh?
Like Adadfruit, SparkFun, Jameco, Seeed Studio, Tindie, etc?