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Fry's Electronics is closing all stores

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Re: Fry's Electronics is closing all stores

#141

Post by tablespoon »

slg wrote: post #11

Every Fry's I have been to in the last decade has felt like the store was already in the process of going out of business. That said, I will miss the place. Sometimes you just need a piece of electronics today and Fry's had a much wider selection than stores like Best Buy.

> Every Fry's I have been to in the last decade has felt like the store was already in the process of going out of business.

Ars Technica says it's because they tried to switch to a "consignment" inventory model, but the manufacturers weren't going along: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2021/02/frys-....

I had no idea that its competitors (Best Buy and Walmart) don't actually pay the manufacturers for their merchandise unless it sells.

Re: Fry's Electronics is closing all stores

#142

Post by 01100011 »

I'm surprised no one is hosting funerals/wakes. Unless you're over 40 and from the West Coast, you probably can't understand how amazing Fry's was before, say, 2005. Fry's was my Disneyland. They had everything I wanted and more. Computers, Software, TVs, high end audio with demo rooms, car audio, electronics components, tools, test equipment, tech toys, geek culture, a well stocked music section, furniture, etc...

I think I first went to Fry's in the mid 90's in LA. The Anaheim store had a mock up of the Space Shuttle's flight deck. It was so cool!

Sure, they went down the tubes. Even 20 years ago, you had to watch out for restocked merchandise. But in their heyday it was a magical wonderland for young geeks like me.

Re: Fry's Electronics is closing all stores

#143

Post by wishysgb »

ericbarrett wrote: post #125

Lots of nostalgia about Fry’s here. Well, I have a different take. Fry’s was my first job, and my first introduction to wage slavery. They never at any point cared about employee health or well-being. Breaks were the state minimum. Pay was the state minimum. The entire staff (and there were hundreds back in the day, when the checkout line would back up into the store even with 20 registers open) shared one 7x7 beige…

At a point in my life I liked that place but that was a very brief moment. I saw they did everything wrong, they staff wasn't knowledgeable and you wouldn't expect them to be at minimum wage. The isles I cared about most, the electronics component and the test equipment isles were always shitty, if I bought something it would never get restocked again.

Re: Fry's Electronics is closing all stores

#144

Post by listenallyall »

Everyone likes to claim that private equity firms strip their acquisitions down to the bone and ruin them. That is not an entirely unfair criticism. However, Fry's likely could have been saved by a smart, private equity-led operator, or, at least extended its life. Instead, it was family-run, in an increasingly challenging retail environment, all the executives last names are still "Fry." And now everybody loses: the owners, the employees, the customers, the landlords, the suppliers...

Re: Fry's Electronics is closing all stores

#145

Post by wishysgb »

hctaw wrote: post #136

For the last three years I've had to use my phone's flashlight to peruse the shelves in the Burbank store because they couldn't be bothered (or afford) to turn the lights on. Fry's saved my ass a couple times. Once it was because I was about to fly out of BUR to Vegas to meet colleagues at a trade show (CES or NAB, can't recall) and they had blown out a transformer we needed for our display, I bought one on my way to…

not a single whole seller ever let me get something out of their stock. I must learn your secrets. but yeah it was a shit show

Re: Fry's Electronics is closing all stores

#146

Post by lovedswain »

rainyMammoth wrote: post #131
someperson wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the Bay Area do people often bring dogs into retail stores?

unfortunately dogs owner seem genuinely incapable to realize that some people are allergic and are simply not comfortable with unpredictable animals in public places.

Random dislike of pets in public spaces puts a smile on my face as regular folk get a little taste of what it's like to live with social anxiety

Re: Fry's Electronics is closing all stores

#147

Post by wishysgb »

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…

I hope microcenter doesn't go the same route as fry's. they need to keep the knowledgeable staff, I think they need to up their game in staff to be honest. also they need to update their fing stock more often and more accurately. also as much as it pains me to have to travel 40 mins to get to one, a limited number of locations is key, it helps reduce costs down.

Re: Fry's Electronics is closing all stores

#148

Post by xxpor »

tasty_freeze wrote: post #118

I graduated college in 1985 and moved cross country to Sunnyvale for work. Fry's was a supermarket chain, and at the time there was one and only one location that was trying out carrying computer stuff, on the east side of Lawrence Ave I think, before they moved to the west side of Lawrence. They weren't yet fully committed to it. Half the store was produce and such -- milk, eggs, lettuce, etc, and the other half was…

>Half the store was produce and such -- milk, eggs, lettuce, etc, and the other half was rows of TTL parts, memory chips, diodes, capacitors, and resistors. It blew my mind. I bought a 68000 CPU, 128KB of DRAM chips (64Kx1 density back then), a perf board, wirewrap wire and a wrapping tool, EPROMs,

This would have been an absolutely amazing store to have locally in 2020.

Re: Fry's Electronics is closing all stores

#149

Post by BeetleB »

wishysgb wrote: post #143
ericbarrett wrote: post #125

Lots of nostalgia about Fry’s here. Well, I have a different take. Fry’s was my first job, and my first introduction to wage slavery. They never at any point cared about employee health or well-being. Breaks were the state minimum. Pay was the state minimum. The entire staff (and there were hundreds back in the day, when the checkout line would back up into the store even with 20 registers open) shared one 7x7 beige…

At a point in my life I liked that place but that was a very brief moment. I saw they did everything wrong, they staff wasn't knowledgeable and you wouldn't expect them to be at minimum wage. The isles I cared about most, the electronics component and the test equipment isles were always shitty, if I bought something it would never get restocked again.

Sad to hear these stories. For me, Fry's was the opposite. I wouldn't call them experts, but they were more knowledgeable than the competition (Best Buy, etc). Also, no other place in this city that has some of the components they would sell. Now the only option is to buy online.

Re: Fry's Electronics is closing all stores

#150

Post by BeetleB »

snapetom wrote: post #123
tasty_freeze wrote: post #118

I graduated college in 1985 and moved cross country to Sunnyvale for work. Fry's was a supermarket chain, and at the time there was one and only one location that was trying out carrying computer stuff, on the east side of Lawrence Ave I think, before they moved to the west side of Lawrence. They weren't yet fully committed to it. Half the store was produce and such -- milk, eggs, lettuce, etc, and the other half was…

I lived near the Palo Alto Fry's around the same time when I was a kid, and I always remembered it as a supermarket with some electronics. It wasn't until college that I got interested in computers and electronics and started to go back to Fry's again. I was always sort of puzzled - did I remember the supermarket correctly? Was it a Fry's? Whenever I said to people, "Fry's was a supermarket," they looked at me like I…

You are thinking of this (owned by Kroger's):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fry%27s_Food_and_Drug

Similar logo, but different store, although they do share an origin.

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