My brother built radios from scrap electronic components when he was 14. Radio Shack was his first job at 16. They even had a vacuum tube tester in the store. Or was that at Vonnegut’s? Maybe both.
The Quick stops and 7/11s used to have those, and the common tubes.
Not saying much, I remember the tube tester at Thrifty's and I could even get an ice cream there. I do have fond memories of Radio Shack in the olden days when they had the battery a month club and you could get kits and components. Those were the old days, they lost me when they started demanding addresses and phone numbers for a purchase.
You mentioned vacuum tubes. My father-in-law has a box full of them that he refuses to part with. Drives my mother-in-law crazy!