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Is Fry’s Electronics in trouble?

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Re: Is Fry’s Electronics in trouble?

#351

Post by spookthesunset »

hotsauceror wrote: post #267
blantonl wrote: post #4

Answer: of course, yes. When I visited Fry's in the DFW area last year (Irving Store off of LBJ freeway) I was shocked at how low energy and sad the place was. It was just one big pile of despair. Just a handful of people were shuffling in and out. They shelves were in complete disrepair, and there were areas where there was no stock on shelves. Computers on display were broken, twisted wrecks. The home theater areas…

Same shocking experience in Austin a few weeks back. Trying to pick up a DisplayPort KVM and a couple of DP cables. This is the big one on MoPac by Opal Devine's. I'd say more than 50% of the shelves were bare, with merchandise strewn about, loose power cables still plugged into outlets. A surprising number of employees but no one was actually doing anything. The computer hardware section looked like a bomb went off.…

> Although I will say it always had a kind of grim, penitential air to it

Yeah. A weird vibe. The wood. The faux “luxury” trim. The yellow. Dudes in cheap looking suits trying to corner you so they can “ring up your order” for their commission.

Yeah. Fry’s was a weird place. The branding just didn’t match the service or experience at all.

Re: Is Fry’s Electronics in trouble?

#352

Post by bsder »

bytematic wrote: post #278
linguae wrote: post #107

I usually purchase my computer components from Newegg. However, whenever I was impatient or pressed for time, I used to go to Fry’s. I remember one time in 2011 driving from Santa Cruz to Campbell to pick up a hard drive to replace one that suddenly failed; having to wait days for shipping would have been more inconvenient. Fry’s is a great convenience in these cases. It’s unfortunate to see Fry’s in the zombified st…

I've stayed away from newegg since they got bought by a chinese company and allowed third party vendors. The prices are rarely the best anymore

What's a reliable alternative to Newegg nowadays?

Re: Is Fry’s Electronics in trouble?

#353

Post by bsder »

emodendroket wrote: post #135
lotsofpulp wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 10 years ago, most people who worked there were knowledgeable in their respective departments, The quality and depth of information available online, especially via forums, far exceeds what one can expect from a single employee. I don’t see how any store could compete on that aspect, although the online info is probably limited to people who are adept at reading English.

Quite easily; who wants to sift through all that? However, it turns out if you charge higher prices and have knowledgeable employees, many people will take advantage of the employees' guidance, then go home and order the same thing on Amazon for less.

> However, it turns out if you charge higher prices and have knowledgeable employees, many people will take advantage of the employees' guidance, then go home and order the same thing on Amazon for less.

This always chapped my hide. It absolutely killed my favorite local technical bookstores.

Re: Is Fry’s Electronics in trouble?

#354

Post by dboreham »

I go all the way back to when there was only one store, on Lawrence (near the current big brown box, but they moved twice between the original one with IC legs painted on the side and the current location). I also lived a couple blocks away for a few years in the 90s.

For me it went downhill at the time they bought Infinite Universe (or whatever that store they acquired was called) and expanded nationwide. Actually it was kind of going downhill by the time they opened a store in Campbell.

I think the Fry's unique proposition was that it sold the stuff the folks inside the industry used, but retail. I remember being amazed the very first time I entered the store (when there was only one, remember) that they sold heat shrink. All sizes. All colors. They carried products that otherwise the only way to get was to order from a distributor, which was a pain because you had to know exactly what you wanted, or trawl through paper catalogs, wait for delivery, all that. Or you could get in the car, zoom round to Fry's and pick up what you needed.

Then over the next few decades two things happened: first, in order to keep making more and more money Fry's expanded both geographically and with more product lines. This took them outside the bubble where orange 5mm heat shrink off-the-shelf is something people want, and into competition with Costco and Walmart for basic computers, fridges, etc. Second the differentiation vs old line distributors eroded as everyone bought everything online with next day delivery. If you want orange 5mm heat shrink today, Jeff can get it to a locker near you in 1/2 a day[1].

In addition, Fry's became just a painful place to shop. e.g. since the early 1990s if you tried to buy DRAM modules there, the sales person would give you hassle about being an idiot for wanting tin plated contacts vs gold. They began strip-searching customers on exit when they moved into the brown box. They stopped carrying most professional products: e.g. if you wanted the simplest thing for a data center cage such as a shelf or a 4U ATX case, they probably wouldn't have that.

[1] https://www.amazon.com/16-Heat-Shrink-Tubing-1-100FT/dp/B06Y...

Re: Is Fry’s Electronics in trouble?

#355

Post by jmspring »

mlyle wrote: post #333
jmspring wrote: post #247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recall a point where I was had to go to Frys because places like Quement Electronics, etc. closed down. Frys was always a "hold your nose" and "be careful/picky" sort of place. Often they restocked bad returns, I had problems with them giving out bad ram at times, etc. Generally, the employees weren't particularly knowledgable either. It's sad to see it go, especially Palo Alto. It felt like they expanded incredibl…

> I recall a point where I was had to go to Frys because places like Quement Electronics, etc. closed down. Frys was always a "hold your nose" and "be careful/picky" sort of place. Often they restocked bad returns, I had problems with them giving out bad ram at times, etc. Generally, the employees weren't particularly knowledgable either. Yup. I remember a whole lot of scammy behavior on the part of reps, too. After…

Weird Stuff is probably my most missed place. I always found something worth buying even if wandering by on lunch. It was dangerous when I worked a few blocks away from there.

Re: Is Fry’s Electronics in trouble?

#356

Post by underpand »

whalesalad wrote: post #84

The Fry’s by my house is a disaster zone of sadness and empty shelves. The Microcenter up the road has completely blown up as a result. It’s regularly packed to the gills. The employees know it. They’re always referring to how bad it is at Frys and that’s why their store has become so popular. Microcenter is down right dangerous. There are shelves and shelves of new Ryzen processors and those Bucky ball looking Intel…

Yeah, I was amazed when I went to Microcenter recently. I had the impression of them as a discount Circuit City/Best Buy from the late 90s and early 2000s. The workers were more knowledgeable than the competition (basically just Staples, Office Depot, Walmart, Target and Best Buy at this point). The guy in charge of the computer hardware section really knew his stuff and was helpful.

Re: Is Fry’s Electronics in trouble?

#357

Post by upbeatlinux »

ruffrey wrote: post #277
upbeatlinux wrote: post #231

A week before Thanksgiving I went to the Fry's in Roseville. The Northgate (Sacramento) location has always been busy (haven't been back since 2018). Fry's has always been my go to for last minute electronics (i.e. I can't wait for next day shipping). The entire computer/networking section was bare. They had a wireless IP camera and a $400 "small-business class" Cisco router (can't remember which model). No cable mod…

I was at the Northgate store just before Thanksgiving, too. Totally shocked when they had zero CPUs, motherboards, and RAM. An employee said they were hit hard by the tariffs and were looking for new suppliers. That didn't make very much sense to me, because you can buy stuff like that elsewhere, even if the prices went up (I'm not sure if they did or did not). I grew up going to that store when it was still called I…

IIRC Incredible Universe have a McDonald's inside.

The Fry's PC builder section at Northgate was a mainstay for years. Sad days.

Re: Is Fry’s Electronics in trouble?

#358

Post by abalashov »

I've patronised the Atlanta (Gwinnett) store since the mid-2000s. It was a very important base for hardware of all kind, to the degree that we would regularly drive from Athens, GA (60 mi E) to Fry's for parts. The last few years, it's been a gradual deterioration toward exactly the kind of empty-shelf phenomenon described in the article. By now, much of the stock seems to be gone, what remains--which is definitely not the most updated and trendiest items--is disorganised and poorly attended-to, and the place has almost no staff. One can hear a pin drop in there most days. It's eerily still, bizarrely empty yet formally open, like the setting of a postapocalyptic video game.

Last time I walked in there was a few months ago, and I assumed they were just trying to clear out what remains of inventory before closing the store. It has been very unclear to me under what economic principle it remains open, given that there is little merchandise, almost no staff, and no customers.

Re: Is Fry’s Electronics in trouble?

#359

Post by thehesiod »

sn wrote: post #41

SF Bay Area folks: for buying new your options (depending on what you are trying to buy) are now https://www.centralcomputers.com/ for enterprise/personal computers, https://www.bestbuy.com/ for consumer electronics, https://anchor-electronics.com/ for electronic components. Central computers just opened a store almost right across the road from the Sunnyvale Fry's.

I was pleasantly surprised by bestbuy for upgrading my desktop recently, good selection and good prices (when matching their online store pricing)...actually I ordered online and picked up there. Then a week later the monitor price dropped and they matched it to the lower price.

I have to say too that the San Jose store has smelled horrid the last year due to what seems like super old carpet smell. If they won't even pay to clean their carpet they don't deserve to be in business.

Re: Is Fry’s Electronics in trouble?

#360

Post by craftinator »

All of the Fry's locations in Oregon had a similar feel to other commenters. The one thing I'd like to add: many of the overhead lights were off. Like, at random. My best guess is direction from the top to save on electricity costs. At first I thought they were turned off in areas without merchandise, but ended up finding what I was looking for in those dark nooks and crannies. The lighting made the area look oppressive, and the "As Seen On TV" just gave it an acerbic vibe. The employees actively walked away when I approached them asking where things were, and the one I finally cornered (after chasing him to the checkout counter) had no idea where their electrical tape was. Verrrrry sad :/
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