It isn't often that Kent can flaunt its superiority in any arena related to shopping. But there is one small segment in which the South King County town has triumphed for more than three decades: surplus. With the looming closure of the Boeing Surplus Store Dec. 21, though, Kent's discounted densitometer domination will come to an end.

Boeing will shut the doors of its vast warehouse and move its inventory of used electronic devices, office furniture, drill bits, power tools, computers, scraps, doo-hickeys and thingamajigs to its Web site, displacing legions of scroungers, putterers, thrifty men and handy women who lined up four days a week to sort through its booty.

While no ordinary store will ever replace the grimy camaraderie of Kent's chilly depot, we offer this guide to bargain shopping as solace, along with this reminder: Will the last person to leave Kent please turn out the lights?

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