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Fry's Electronics is closing all stores

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Re: Fry's Electronics is closing all stores

#31

Post by ocdtrekkie »

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…

What mystified me was how they thought the consignment shift would pan out, and didn't immediately reverse course when it didn't: Fry's was always heavily trafficked with people purchasing there every time I was there prior to the consignment shift.

Re: Fry's Electronics is closing all stores

#32

Post by banana_giraffe »

mbreese wrote: post #9
geocrasher wrote: post #2

This is too bad. But, it's not surprising. In speaking with a colleague recently, I found out that his local Fry's Electronics was a shell of what it once was, and that they were doing some strange consignment sale things that weren't even through their normal retail channels. Another COVID casualty, I suspect.

Sadly, Fry’s was going downhill well before COVID.

Yep, here's a comment of mine before the COVID lockdowns:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21949585

And the only reason I went in is a friend mentioned it was a ghost town a month before, I had to see it for myself. I'm still curious why they even bothered to pretend to be a business at this point.

Re: Fry's Electronics is closing all stores

#33

Post by taurath »

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…

Ah weirdstuff is gone? I suppose the only businesses left along those lines are the startup graveyard furniture stores

Re: Fry's Electronics is closing all stores

#34

Post by chris11 »

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…

Central Computers can have decent pricing on items, it can be really convenient. They also were reserving gpus for instore customers for awhile, albeit marked up.

Re: Fry's Electronics is closing all stores

#35

Post by m463 »

TeaVMFan wrote: post #12

I hope this is fake. Few stores remain with a good selection of maker parts. Though the shelves have been pretty bare for a couple years now. I have tried to support them recently with a few purchases. With limited stock it has been tricky, though, which I'm sure doesn't help when competing with huge online stores. For anyone who has never been, most (all?) stores are themed, with huge decorations, statues, and props…

Had you been to a store within the last few years?

Re: Fry's Electronics is closing all stores

#36

Post by the_only_law »

I remember growing up seeing own in Atlanta, but never got a chance to visit one. A few years ago I was in KC and visited a Microcenter. It was neat, I was able to pick up a few things that otherwise would have taken shipping time. I live in Florida now and was surprised when I couldn’t find either of those in the entire state. The things I need are often extremely limited or non existent at consumer electronics / business stores and if it’s not available via Prime it means waiting a week or two to get.

Re: Fry's Electronics is closing all stores

#37

Post by rubyn00bie »

This explains a lot. I recently, as of October, was building a new workstation and _tried_ to buy things from Fry's but there was quite literally _nothing_ for sale. I was confused if was just because of covid (temporary closure) or permanent... really bummed it's permanent.

Fry's was awesome. I always wanted to go to one of their more epic looking stores (the one closest to me wasn't), like this bad mamajama https://i2.wp.com/www.mercurynews.com/wp-content/uploads/201...

Sometimes a little capitalism is fun, even if it is corny. RIP, Fry's.

Re: Fry's Electronics is closing all stores

#38

Post by gigatexal »

Wilsonville, Oregon is home to Oregon’s only Fry’s location. I grew up there. I remember running into people from all across the state that would come down for its crazy deals.

The building is huge and prime real estate in a rather affluent town. I wonder who or what they will do with the property. Maybe microcenter could come in. More likely though BestBuy is the only retailer likely to want such a large place but there’s already a BestBuy one town north in Tualatin.

Re: Fry's Electronics is closing all stores

#39

Post by jdorfman »

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.

Re: Fry's Electronics is closing all stores

#40

Post by andrewem »

dawnerd wrote: post #19
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.

There was a lot of stuff going on in the corp level that really caused a lot of the problems with supply of goods. https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Former-Fry-s-executiv...

Wikipedia has a lot more detail about him. Basically a Fry’s VP arranged for $65 million in kickbacks from companies that wanted to see at Fry’s, and then gambled away even more than that, and ended up $137 million in debt:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ausaf_Umar_Siddiqui

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