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Demolishing the Fry's Electronics in Burbank

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Re: Demolishing the Fry's Electronics in Burbank

#101

Post by PopAlongKid »

pimlottc wrote: post #53

I just recently learned from the last Not Just Bikes video [0] that these big box stores tend to be very hard to reuse (even when they don't include a giant spaceship). 99 Percent Invisible has a good article [1] on some of the challenges and a few success stories, but it takes a major effort. 0: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7-e_yhEzIw 1: https://99percentinvisible.org/article/ghost-boxes-reusing-a...

The building which used to house Fry's Electronics in Concord, CA is now an indoor gym/adventure type enterprise.

https://pioneerpublishers.com/old-frys-building-to-see-new-l...

Re: Demolishing the Fry's Electronics in Burbank

#102

Post by ajmurmann »

bartread wrote: post #88
jedberg wrote: post #84

One of the things I loved most about Fry's was that clearly an engineer designed their checkout line. It's the only retail checkout line I've ever seen that fully embraced queueing theory. They had one long line that everyone got into, and a load balancer up front that would direct you to an open check stand, and at least at the store I went to, in their hayday they had 30 registers open at once!

This sort of queuing system is also widely used in Post Office and bank branches in the UK since at least the 1980s.

Many airline counter lines work this way here in the US and the line at my local post office does as well. The post office line hardly move though.

Re: Demolishing the Fry's Electronics in Burbank

#103

Post by ajmurmann »

supportengineer wrote: post #83

I don’t know what kind of world we are leaving for the next generation. It’s completely devoid of any character or authenticity.

I'm generally very positive about technological and economic progress and just defended Fry's being replaced by online stores to my wife. That said, we are losing physical third spaces and I think that's a real problem. Towards the end going to Fry's was more entertainment for me then of practical value. PCPartPicker and online stores are much more convenient than walking around Fry's but if I had a kid who wanted to build their first PC I'd do much rather drive to Fry's together, walk around and check out the parts together etc. Even if it meant we had to go back there more than once because we got the wrong part or something didn't work. The shared effort and other like-minded people around just is a value in itself. My Fry's also was in a mall with a fabulous taqueria. The taqueria by itself isn't worth the drive but made for a great stop right after and turned it into a fun little outing.

We need more things like this but I don't know how to make it work economically. Maybe shopping never was the best focal point for this?

Re: Demolishing the Fry's Electronics in Burbank

#105

Post by cylinder714 »

PopAlongKid wrote: post #101
pimlottc wrote: post #53

I just recently learned from the last Not Just Bikes video [0] that these big box stores tend to be very hard to reuse (even when they don't include a giant spaceship). 99 Percent Invisible has a good article [1] on some of the challenges and a few success stories, but it takes a major effort. 0: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7-e_yhEzIw 1: https://99percentinvisible.org/article/ghost-boxes-reusing-a...

The building which used to house Fry's Electronics in Concord, CA is now an indoor gym/adventure type enterprise. https://pioneerpublishers.com/old-frys-building-to-see-new-l...

I used to visit that store once a week, just because.

Re: Demolishing the Fry's Electronics in Burbank

#106

Post by cylinder714 »

fuzzythinker wrote: post #54
LeoPanthera wrote: post #9

For those in the bay area, Micro Center is opening a branch in Santa Clara. https://www.microcenter.com/site/stores/santa-clara.aspx Well, maybe. It's delayed months at this point.

Thought why would they open one so close to another, until I just found out the 3255 Mission College Blvd one was closed.

Yep. Glad they're coming back.

Re: Demolishing the Fry's Electronics in Burbank

#107

Post by JKCalhoun »

AStonesThrow wrote: post #68
JKCalhoun wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I first moved out to the Bay Area in 1995 and discovered Fry's it was wire-wrapping tools, sockets, enclosures, electronic components, porn magazines, junk food, soft drinks, Computer Shopper magazines....

You could literally purchase a bag of chips (SIMMs) on one aisle, and a bag of chips (Fritos) in another! I must admit that “Big Boob Babes” was my favorite CD-ROM purchase in 1994. No, it was not a DVD This morning, I was just watching the video of “The Distance” by Cake, and I vividly recall when that was released and played on my car radio, and the metaphor of corporate slavery was not lost on 24-year-old me. My f…

I have an extension cable that still has the bright orange Weird Stuff Warehouse sticker on it. I will never remove it.

Re: Demolishing the Fry's Electronics in Burbank

#108

Post by schlauerfox »

That's a crime the Valley Relics Museum couldn't get the Spaceship. It has done a really great job saving what can be saved of Los Angeles San Fernando Valley history. If you're ever near the Van Nuys airport check it out. Fry's was a happy place for me. Memories of their old Terminal based stockkeeping system (AS400? AIX? I heard rumors the owner wrote it themselves). The Burbank Scifi theme, the Manhattan Beach polynesian theme, the Woodland Hills Alice in Wonderland Theme. Even the old sacramento unthemed version and the newer train themed one. The memories of building my own computers for several iterations and almost always getting my parts there, shopping first with my Dad then later a relaxing walk on my own. The haunted look of female partners dragged there. The ecclectic selection. It was a okay substitute for an old style electronics store like Electronic City, but had so much other interesting things. So many interesting things lost in LA. DAK2000, TRI-ESS Sciences, OPAMP Books. ALL Electronics surplus.

Re: Demolishing the Fry's Electronics in Burbank

#109

Post by jhbadger »

ghaff wrote: post #92
corysama wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

5/8” of that was ads. But, before the consumer internet, those ads were as interesting and valuable to readers as the articles.

The articles in Computer Shopper were pretty much fairly low effort filler. Not that there weren’t tons of ads in things like PC Magazine but the articles/columns/reviews were of pretty good quality for the most part.

While the point of the articles was to keep it legally qualified as a "magazine" rather than a "catalog" (as postal rates then favored the former over the latter), there were some good things there. Don Lancaster wrote some amazing articles about Postscript and how you can write Postscript code to make figures rather than using a drawing program. And Stan Veit, who was editor of Computer Shopper for a time, wrote some good history articles about the early personal computer scene in the 1970s (Veit had opened in 1976 the first computer store in NYC, and one of the first in the USA as a whole)
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