It was shortly after moving into Chicago's Jefferson Park neighborhood that I saw the sign for the first time: American Science & Surplus. My curiosity piqued, I pulled into the strip mall and walked into a store filled with an unimaginable variety of lab equipment, military surplus, tools, electronics, toys, and so much more.
在搬到芝加哥杰斐逊公园（Jefferson Park）附近的不久之后，我第一次看到了标志：美国科学与盈余。我的好奇心激起了人们的激动，我进入了脱衣舞购物中心，走进了一家商店，里面装满了难以想象的实验室设备，军事盈余，工具，电子，玩具等等。
Now, nearly 90 years after its launch selling"reject lenses" as American Lens & Photo, American Science & Surplus is facing an existential threat. The COVID-19 pandemic and increased costs hit the business hard, so the store has launched a GoFundMe campaign looking to raise $200,000 from customers and fans alike. What's happening in suburban Chicago is a microcosm of the challenges facing local retail, with big-box retailers and online behemoths overwhelming beloved local institutions. It's a story that has played out countless times in the last two-plus decades, and owner Pat Meyer is hoping this tale has a different ending.
现在，在发布“拒绝镜头”的近90年后，美国科学与盈余正面临生存威胁。COVID-19的大流行和成本的增加打击了业务，因此该商店发起了一项GoFundMe运动，希望从客户和粉丝那里筹集20万美元。芝加哥郊区发生的事情是当地零售业面临的挑战，大型零售商和在线庞然大物压倒了众多的当地机构。这个故事在过去两十多年中已经播放了无数次，所有者帕特·迈耶（Pat Meyer）希望这个故事有不同的结局。
Credit: Eric Bangeman American Science & Surplus owner Pat Meyer holds the two most popular items in the store: $4 solenoid switches that are used to repair a well-known brand of single-cup coffee makers. American Science & Surplus owner Pat Meyer holds the two most popular items in the store: $4 solenoid switches that are used to repair a well-known brand of single-cup coffee makers. Credit: Eric Bangeman
信用：埃里克·班曼（Eric Bangeman）美国科学与盈余所有者帕特·迈耶（Pat Meyer）拥有商店中最受欢迎的两个物品：4美元的螺线管开关，用于修复众所周知的单杯咖啡机。美国科学与盈余的老板帕特·迈耶（Pat Meyer）拥有商店中最受欢迎的两个物品：4美元的螺线管开关，这些开关用于修复众所周知的单杯咖啡机品牌。图片来源：埃里克·班曼（Eric Bangeman）
Launching a fundraiser was a tough choice for Meyer."I don't like asking people for money," he said.
对迈耶来说，启动筹款活动是一个艰难的选择。他说：“我不喜欢向人们赚钱。”
With his voice catching, he continued:"It's hard for me to talk about sometimes, because the more I'm in the store, the more I see how much people care about it and don't want it to go away."
随着他的声音捕捉，他继续说：“有时候我很难谈论，因为我在商店里越多，我就越看到人们对此有多关心，不希望它消失。”
And the current environment is tough for small business owners."Banks… are real hesitant [about lending] money," Meyer told Ars."Interest rates are high, too. So we decided that we were going to try and reach out to the community that we built over the last 88 years."
对于小企业主来说，当前的环境很艰难。迈耶告诉ARS：“银行……真正犹豫不决。”“利率也很高。因此，我们决定我们将尝试与过去88年来建立的社区联系。”
Walk into any of the three American Science & Surplus' stores in the Illinois-Wisconsin area—two in Illinois, Park Ridge and Geneva, and one in Milwaukee—and it's easy to see why it has such a devoted following. Each aisle could be a store of its own. One has stationery and office supplies. Another has military surplus. The next one over has tools. I head over there regularly just to wander the aisles and see what's in stock. Other times I go looking for a particular oddball item—and I usually find it there.
步行进入伊利诺伊州威斯康星州的三家美国科学与盈余商店中的任何一个 - 伊利诺伊州的两个，公园岭和日内瓦，一家在密尔沃基 - 而且很容易看出为什么它具有如此敬业的以下。每个过道可以是自己的商店。一个人有文具和办公用品。另一个有军事盈余。下一个有工具。我定期前往那儿，只是为了漫步，看看有什么库存。其他时候，我去寻找一个特定的奇数项目，而且我通常在那里找到它。
