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Fry's Electronics is closing all stores

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Re: Fry's Electronics is closing all stores

#291

Post by Teknoman117 »

octetta wrote: post #211
Teknoman117 wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I bought most of my PC from the Tustin (CA) Microcenter. I'm always shocked at how they manage to move enough custom-loop water-cooling equipment to stock it on shelves. However, LA and OC have huge car modding communities, why not PCs as well I guess :) I was sad to see the Santa Clara (CA) Microcenter go. It's now a Walmart. No more Microcenter in Silicon Valley.

I moved from Atlanta (where there were two Microcenter stores) to the LA/SFV (where there are 0 unless you count Tustin which is too damn far away), so you’ve caught my attention about the car modding community as being a replacement as hobby electronics source. Any suggestions for stores like that here? I have been to All Electronics which is nice, but it’s one rung below what I need on the technology ladder.

"However" was the wrong word to use here.

I didn't mean the custom car shop are replacements for finding computing equipment, it was more a comment on "there are large communities of people who who like modding cars, so maybe the same sentiment exists for computers".

I moved from Birmingham, AL :)

Re: Fry's Electronics is closing all stores

#292

Post by birdyrooster »

brobdingnagians wrote: post #191
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…

We mainly stopped going there because they treated customers like they might be stealing something. We didn't like being treated like potential thieves; I know they probably have a problem with shoplifting, but being constantly treated like that isn't pleasant.

I got caught shoplifting at Fry's once upon a time when I was on new medication acting crazy impulsively. The loss prevention guy tackled me in the parking lot and the rest is history. He said he was an ex-marine. Luckily the thing I stole was on sale that day and did not exceed $500, so it was a misdemeanor but I would end up spending way more than that in attorney, court and probation fees.

Re: Fry's Electronics is closing all stores

#293

Post by gmiller123456 »

emmanueloga_ wrote: post #61

I find newegg's [1] faceted search a lot better than say, amazon's, for finding computer hardware. Couldn't Fry's have moved operations online and become a newegg's alternative? 1: https://www.newegg.com/

I see arguments like this a lot, treating a brand name as though it is a single entity "Couldn't 'they' just have...".

Yes, if everyone could agree on a single vision, they could pull it off. Or, individuals: employees, and investors could make their own choices and abandon the failing company and go to work for or invest in another company like Newegg.

Newegg's website is great, and it hasn't been duplicated even by companies with deep pockets like Amazon. It requires knowledgeable people to categorize the merchandise. The startup costs would be significant, and likely money they didn't have. And they'd be gambling on the idea that it'd be successful. And if everything worked just right, they'd essentially be competing directly with Newegg with the Fry brand being their only competitive advantage.

It's quite easy to see how individuals would jump ship rather than get everyone to agree to accept a pretty large risk for the purpose of saving a brand name where the new company would be essentially nothing like the new one.

Re: Fry's Electronics is closing all stores

#294

Post by donarb »

brundolf wrote: post #121
m463 wrote: post #8

I went there about 2 years ago. It was a graveyard. I just wanted a USB extension cable, and they only had one, and active extension cable that must have been languishing on the shelf for 10 years. What I don't understand is how best buy has survived and Frys (I think a much better store) did not survive.

I have a friend who's worked at Best Buy for the past ~7 years. According to him, they: - Beefed up their online presence. It's honestly a better experience than Amazon because it's specialized (which is a low bar, but still). - Use stores as distribution centers. You can make an online purchase and then go pick it up that day if you feel like it, which Amazon struggles to compete with. - Focus on customer service; b…

Looks like they finally figured out where to store the rolling ladder (what they used to fetch merchandise from the overhead shelves). This was back when Apple had their store-within-a-store feature at BestBuy.

People in online Apple forums remarked that the ladder was always parked in the Apple section no matter which Best Buy you went to (probably due to the fact that not a lot of people went to BB to buy Apple stuff, this was pre-Apple Store).

Re: Fry's Electronics is closing all stores

#295

Post by _nothing »

epc wrote: post #228
_nothing wrote: post #140

It's cool to hear about everyone's good experiences with Fry's in the 90s; maybe they would have managed to stay in business longer if they'd ever updated since that period. I worked at a Fry's (the lone location near Chicago) for a few months in 2014 and it felt like they'd never upgraded anything since the 90s. Not the systems, not the decor-- nothing. If they were trying to make it seem retro, it failed. It just f…

The Downers Grove store was in a weird location, it's not really on the way to or from anywhere except the freeway exits or if you’re trying to bypass Highland.

It seemed like an area lots of suburbanites liked to go to shop. Yorktown mall was right down the road and there were lots of other retail stores and restaurants all down Butterfield Road. That was definitely where my family would go when we wanted to go shopping or have a "fancy" meal (lots of fond memories of the Red Lobster on the corner).

Re: Fry's Electronics is closing all stores

#296

Post by wegs »

sokoloff wrote: post #198
wegs wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same-day shopping, returns, being able to look at things, and talk to people count for something too. I can't count the number of times when I bought a motherboard, and didn't realize my old AT power supply no longer worked with an ATX motherboard, or some other random standard, connector, or form factor changed. You can ask an employee "Will these five parts make a computer?" and get an answer, or even configure one…

My local microcenter (Cambridge, MA) is clearly taking basic safety measures and seems more or less similar to the local grocery store practices.

Maybe I went at the wrong time.... I went once, and decided to never come back again. Perhaps things improved.

Re: Fry's Electronics is closing all stores

#298

Post by pcvarmint »

_nothing wrote: post #295
epc wrote: post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Downers Grove store was in a weird location, it's not really on the way to or from anywhere except the freeway exits or if you’re trying to bypass Highland.

It seemed like an area lots of suburbanites liked to go to shop. Yorktown mall was right down the road and there were lots of other retail stores and restaurants all down Butterfield Road. That was definitely where my family would go when we wanted to go shopping or have a "fancy" meal (lots of fond memories of the Red Lobster on the corner).

I stood in a long line outside the Downers Grove store before they opened on the day of the HP Touchpad $99 fire sale.

As soon as the door opened, I ran as fast as I could to the computer department desk, near where laptops and tablets were on display. The sales associate, who I had seen the night before, when Touchpads were $299, said that they were sold out.

I later heard that if you bought it within 30 days before the fire sale, they would offer you a price-matching rebate.

I had already bought a $99 Touchpad at Wal-Mart around midnight that morning, and I got the last one in the store, right before someone else came looking for it.

Re: Fry's Electronics is closing all stores

#299

Post by caeril »

Larrikin wrote: post #165
redisman wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

As some one who went to a microcenter exactly once for a GPU that wasn't ridiculously marked up when I was getting in to Ethereum,but would like to start building my own computer, what does Microcenter offer I can't get from New Egg and Amazon?

They offer the option to transact in cash and avoid the panopticon nightmare that is the modern Visa network and banking system.

Re: Fry's Electronics is closing all stores

#300

Post by trav4225 »

lscotte wrote: post #220
heleninboodler wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You haven't lived the life of a late 90's bay area nerd if you've never grabbed your copy of Computer Shopper and hit Fry's, Weird Stuff and Central Computer in a single afternoon. With friends. :D

In the late 80s, as a student, we'd make a pilgrimage once in a while from Sacramento to the Bay Area just to visit Weird Stuff and Fry's.

Sac used to have an HSC! Anyone remember that? [edited phrasing]
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