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Fry's Electronics is closing all stores

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Re: Fry's Electronics is closing all stores

#91

Post by mbreese »

jaredandrews wrote: post #50

Okay, so how is everyone feeling about MicroCenter now? I used to live in Allston and would ride my bike to the one in Cambridge, it was sick. I live 45 minutes (in no traffic conditions) away now and rarely make the drive.

Depends on what you’re looking for. If you’re looking for parts for a last minute electronics weekend project, Microcenter is a mess. (I am closest to the Cincinnati location). I still found what I needed, but it was a mess.

Don’t get me wrong, you can find a lot of parts, but mainly things from companies like Adafruit. But the section was so disorganized it made it take forever to find the one specific part I needed (and their website said was in stock). And if you need electronics components, the Microcenter stock is nothing like Frys. A few random LEDs, switches, etc. but not much selection. I half wonder if the disorganization is part of the appeal — you have to actively find what you’re looking for. And when you do — it’s a win.

However, for other things (hard drives, monitors, 3D supplies), I’ve found them to be great. Especially when you can find what you’re looking for and can get it faster than shipping from Amazon, et al. I’m thankful to have a store near me.

Re: Fry's Electronics is closing all stores

#92

Post by buffrr »

The last time I went to Fry's was four years ago. They had servo motors, gears, structural aluminum plates, and lots of electronics parts that you could use to build robots or other cool things. You can get the same parts online from stores like servocity, but browsing and buying stuff in real life without having to wait for shipping was awesome so sad to see it close :(

Re: Fry's Electronics is closing all stores

#93

Post by OkGoDoIt »

tanseydavid wrote: post #30
geocrasher wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only time I've ever been into a Fry's (due to not living near one) was around 2010 in the Sacramento CA area. It was so huge that I genuinely got dizzy and had to work hard to focus to see individual items (It's a thing that happens to me when there is a lot of "input" for lack of a better term). I suspect that the cavernous real estate (and its cost) only hastened their demise.

Going to Fry's without a VERY specific shopping list was always dangerous for me. I could blow 3 hours in a Fry's just browsing and barely notice the time that had passed.

That’s exactly why I used to love Fry’s. Some kids went to malls, I guess. Fry’s was my mall.

Re: Fry's Electronics is closing all stores

#94

Post by brundolf »

Lots of memories of Saturdays spent wandering the aisles of Fry's with my dad. He mostly wanted to look at the big TVs (this ritual started around the dawn of HD/flat TVs); I mostly wanted to look at the games and computer stuff. It was something we could reliably do to spend time together.

My home store - Plano, TX - was themed after the history of the city itself. Lots of hundred-year-old photos, blown up to 10 feet across and labeled for context. I always thought that was so strange, but cool, that a national chain would put so much effort into localizing itself.

When I moved to Austin after college I made my first big purchase with my own income at the Fry's here: a TV, and a PlayStation.

The last time I made a real purchase at a Fry's, I think, was years later when the VR headset I'd been eagerly awaiting finally came in the mail. My graphics card was too old to support it, and having already waited a long time I didn't want to wait for another delivery. So I ran out to Fry's first thing in the morning and bought a new card (and a breakfast sandwich!). That feels like a good, classical Fry's experience to put a pin in.

End of an era.

Re: Fry's Electronics is closing all stores

#95

Post by bnjms »

BuyMyBitcoins wrote: post #10
geocrasher wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only time I've ever been into a Fry's (due to not living near one) was around 2010 in the Sacramento CA area. It was so huge that I genuinely got dizzy and had to work hard to focus to see individual items (It's a thing that happens to me when there is a lot of "input" for lack of a better term). I suspect that the cavernous real estate (and its cost) only hastened their demise.

Cavernous is such an apt description. Fry’s uses giant warehouse sized buildings and even the distance in between racks and aisles is wide. I also remember the checkout lines having dozens of empty checkout stations that I never saw used. I always assumed they were there for Black Friday or something.

They were from back in the day when Fry’s would hire extra people for the holidays and staff nearly every register.

Also back then stores would fill space with extra registers. I was nostalgic and sad when I saw they had removed half their local registers. They had (bought) one of the earliest web retail stores. They ought to have become New Egg with a mini Best Buy and RadioShack for locals. But that’s hindsight and I couldn’t have done it.

Re: Fry's Electronics is closing all stores

#96

Post by rpm91 »

jrmg wrote: post #88

Local Bay Area TV news channel says it has confirmed the story: https://www.kron4.com/news/national/frys-electronics-permane...

Perhaps the link should be changed to this, as this has more details, formal confirmation from a reputable source, and contradicts some aspects of the original source, such as that the website will go down at midnight, which wouldn't really make sense—presumably they'd want to sell the remaining merchandise.

Edit: or the link in the reply below, which is an even better article (and explains a potential reason that they may not have to sell any remaining merchandise).

Re: Fry's Electronics is closing all stores

#97

Post by redisman »

mc32 wrote: post #7
BuyMyBitcoins wrote: post #3

I’m not surprised, but this makes me feel incredibly sad. I built my first PC using parts from there. I’m going to miss it. But once Fry’s pivoted to be a consignment store that was mostly empty and selling pallets of bottled water and perfume, it was obvious the business was about to die. Curiously, Microcenter has managed to live on and seems fairly robust. I can’t help but think Fry’s tried to sell too many differ…

Central Computer is still kicking around -for now. This is all changing. It's not the same. You used to have a bunch of grey market PC parts distributors all over the east bay (uProcessor, add on Cards, RAM, HDD, etc) that used to sell to beige box PC makers (and individuals) but they went the way of the dodo too (ASI is legit distributor now). Also, remember WeirdStuff? Gone too. It's a mature industry and the biz h…

As someone who got back to PC building in the last few years, I’m jealous of people with a micro center in their city. Amazon and Newegg are not up to par

Re: Fry's Electronics is closing all stores

#98

Post by wheresmycraisin »

Between this, Radio Shack closing a few years back, and small shops like Al Lasher's in Berkeley biting the dust, there's no longer a place where kids can just walk in and buy $3 worth of exactly what they needed for their project, and another $3 worth of parts they didn't need because they looked cool. Shenzhen and the dark corners of Akihabara are basically it now.

Re: Fry's Electronics is closing all stores

#100

Post by system2 »

jdorfman wrote: post #39

I just walked by the one in Woodland Hills, CA (Alice in Wonderland theme). I first started my career in IT and that store was my go to for parts. I went there in November and it was depressing, empty shelves, no customers, small staff. End of an era.

Same, a few months ago even the lights were dimmed. I went to el toritos after 5 minutes.

I felt this was coming 5 years ago it was difficult to find the current models. Sad.

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