Photos: New Phoenix Microcenter is a ‘tech-heaven’ for geeks

People started lining up outside the new Micro Center Phoenix store on Tuesday night. And the crowd only grew from there. By Wednesday morning, hundreds of local geeks packed the sidewalk outside the 35,000-square-foot tech store for its first VIP access day. Employees were blown away by the turnout, but are expecting even bigger numbers for the Micro Center Phoenix grand opening on Friday, Nov. 7.

“I don’t think I was expecting it to be this big,” says Dan Ackerman, editor-in-chief of Micro Center’s newsletter. “I thought it would be a nice crowd, but I didn’t think we’d go around the corner on the early access day.”

After waiting for hours, Valley tech heads, PC builders and gadget geeks finally stepped inside Micro Center Phoenix at 4315 E. Thomas Road. The anticipation for the retailer has been building locally for years. And with more than 20,000 items on the shelves, it’s no surprise why.

Micro Center Phoenix patrons waiting to speak with the store’s staff at its build-your-own PC area.
Benjamin Leatherman

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Once doors opened at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, people began entering Micro Center and moved with a purpose. They weren’t browsing. They were hunting.

Over in the PC section, graphics cards shone behind glass like museum pieces. Motherboards sat stacked like sci-fi storyboards. CPU boxes lined up in precise little armies. Employees rattled off chipset specs like it was casual conversation. Heads nodded. Wallets began to be emptied.

Then there’s the gaming area at Micro Center. Consoles, custom rigs, keyboards and other gear fill multiple rows. There are also plenty of controllers. Shelves stacked with 8BitDo pads in soft retro pastels and razor-sharp modern palettes. An entire wall is dedicated to steering wheels for driving simulators. Plus force feedback bases, pedal sets and other gear.

A pair of driving simulators inside Micro Center’s new Phoenix store.

Over in the maker zone, a wall filled with a rainbow selection of filament spools. Neon pink. Cool glacier blue. Matte stone gray. Transparent orange that look like gummies. If you can imagine it, you can print it.

Elsewhere, Micro Center’s Phoenix store contains rows of laptops, monitors, routers, cables, batteries, adapters and other components, along with fully built PCs. For local tech heads, Wednesday wasn’t just a preview day. It was a full-on pilgrimage.

Here’s a look inside the new Micro Center Phoenix store.