I buy from futurlec the best prices anywhere, takes a longggggggggg time to get the order. In Canada the prices are from 4 to 12 times higher we really get screwed here does any one know a good place here????
AKA quickar electronics. I actually got to talk to the owner the first time I ordered, really nice guy. I did not know that the policy is $20 minimum. He just told me to not tell his son about it, or that he took in on a Saturday, lol. I have been ordering from him ever since, close to 300 LED's. He even helped me out and explained how to calculate the current and all. (This was before college). I would highly recommend them.
As for "local" places to fill for quick-turnaround needs, when I was in Santa Clara, California for a year, I thought Fry's was a decent B&M to get parts without going too far (Yeah, Jameco and JDR were also in driving distance ). This held true for their Cupertino and San Jose stores. I don't recall checking out their Palo Alto store, and that means I can't say much for their GA, TX, and AZ stores (anyone know? I'm curious... also if it's known or not that Fry's is going to stop selling components.)
Although I do start to get a feeling they're starting to become like RatShack in terms of stocking parts, but they've got a waaaay larger selection last I checked (it's been 6 years...)
Now that I'm in the middle of nowhere I'm stuck with ordering online; though I've recycled parts from dead equipment and haven't had a need to order anything for a while...
... but if only I had an easy way to recycle SMT devices...