Is Fry’s Electronics in trouble? • Hacker News Board

Re: Is Fry’s Electronics in trouble?

#301

Post by taneq » Fri, Jan 03, 2020, 11:41 PM UTC

duxup wrote: post #196

macintux wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reinforces Apple's decision to launch their own retail business. Circuit City was where I rediscovered Macs after having been away for a decade.

You certainly can't be a premium type brand / provide good service ... in someone else's cavernous store.

Back then Apple was focusing on the computer-as-appliance design philosophy. They were computers for people who were too cool to know anything about computers. It took a while for their pendulum to swing back to supplying premium computers instead of toasters.

Re: Is Fry’s Electronics in trouble?

#302

Post by pixelrevision » Fri, Jan 03, 2020, 11:42 PM UTC

mod50ack wrote: post #148

CoolGuySteve wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In NYC I've had good luck with Amazon Prime Now for urgent computer parts. I've gotten an SSD, power supply, and CPU fan for various work needs within a couple hours and without having to go on an excursion. So thank you, Rube Goldberg machine of human misery, for saving my work day on more than one occasion.

Microcenter has worked for me in NY. And they match Amazon pricing.

Microcenter does the job here. I do miss heading to frys and just browsing around though :(.

Re: Is Fry’s Electronics in trouble?

#303

Post by LorenPechtel » Fri, Jan 03, 2020, 11:42 PM UTC

jmspring wrote: post #247

linguae wrote: post #107

I usually purchase my computer components from Newegg. However, whenever I was impatient or pressed for time, I used to go to Fry’s. I remember one time in 2011 driving from Santa Cruz to Campbell to pick up a hard drive to replace one that suddenly failed; having to wait days for shipping would have been more inconvenient. Fry’s is a great convenience in these cases. It’s unfortunate to see Fry’s in the zombified st…

I recall a point where I was had to go to Frys because places like Quement Electronics, etc. closed down. Frys was always a "hold your nose" and "be careful/picky" sort of place. Often they restocked bad returns, I had problems with them giving out bad ram at times, etc. Generally, the employees weren't particularly knowledgable either. It's sad to see it go, especially Palo Alto. It felt like they expanded incredibl…

I wouldn't call it hold your nose but I did run into problems with bad returns getting restocked and what I assume was employee theft in the form of putting bad items in new boxes that weren't marked as returns. (And for which the serial # wouldn't match, that's how I realized what was up.)

Re: Is Fry’s Electronics in trouble?

#304

Post by chipotle_coyote » Fri, Jan 03, 2020, 11:43 PM UTC

plerpin wrote: post #229

bluedino wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My retail days....we sold Macs at Sears (low end crap like Performas), and we sold them at Best Buy back in 1998 or whenever it was the original iMac came out. But nobody wanted them. We got 25 at our store and almost every one of them came back. People wanted PC's....

Not surprised. Apple spent most of the 90's cranking out one turd after another. There were a few hits for well-heeled professionals, but their consumer offerings were generally a bunch of fatally compromised Road Apples. https://lowendmac.com/2014/road-apples-second-class-macs/ MacOS was behind the times vs. Windows. Still sticking with cooperative multitasking until 2000. Crazy! iMac was the start of something diff…

> Still sticking with cooperative multitasking until 2000. Crazy!

To be fair, sticking with it until 2000 wasn't Apple's intention; they'd expected to bring the new "Copland" Mac OS to market by the end of 1996.

I don't know how well the iMac may have sold at the OP's Best Buy, but my recollection -- and a web search just now seems to back this up -- is that the iMac sold very well pretty quickly after its 1998 introduction. For instance, a NYT article from January 1999 which begins:

"Apple Computer Inc.'s popular iMac desktop computer was the No. 1 selling machine through retail and mail-order channels in the 1998 holiday season, according to the research company PC Data.

"In overall sales, the iMac fell from the top spot in November to No. 3 in December. It is still the top-selling computer since its mid-August introduction and led overall sales in the fourth quarter, PC Data, of Reston, Va., reported."

https://www.nytimes.com/1999/01/22/business/apple-s-imac-led...

Re: Is Fry’s Electronics in trouble?

#305

Post by function_seven » Fri, Jan 03, 2020, 11:53 PM UTC

LatteLazy wrote: post #97

organsnyder wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're assuming that ecommerce is universally a better experience than brick-and-mortar. Given the abysmal reliability of Amazon listings these days, I'm not ready to agree.

With the exceptions listed, it is isn't it? When was the last time you could by (say) computer hardware cheaper in a store than on amazon? You must have some fantastic local stores compared to me :(

SD cards. You buy those on Amazon and there's a not-so-small chance you're going to get a counterfeit item instead of the genuine thing. The odds that Best Buy are stocking their shelves with fake SD cards are much lower.

It's not just about price. Sometimes you want a reasonable assurance that what you're buying is the real deal. Amazon continues to get worse in that department.

Brick and mortar is also still faster. Not everyone or every item can be delivered on the same day, but going to a store can get me that item now instead of tomorrow or 2 days from now. Usually I'm not in that much of a hurry, but sometimes I am.

But enough about computers. I think the products that keep Best Buy in business are the vacuum cleaners, refrigerators, washing machines, and other large big-ticket items that people would rather not select from pictures on their phone, let alone ship.

Re: Is Fry’s Electronics in trouble?

#306

Post by wiseleo » Fri, Jan 03, 2020, 11:56 PM UTC

For things I wanted same day, I now got forced to re-open a Synnex account. They supply companies like Central Computer.

Re: Is Fry’s Electronics in trouble?

#307

Post by bayareageek » Sat, Jan 04, 2020, 12:02 AM UTC

linguae wrote: post #107

I usually purchase my computer components from Newegg. However, whenever I was impatient or pressed for time, I used to go to Fry’s. I remember one time in 2011 driving from Santa Cruz to Campbell to pick up a hard drive to replace one that suddenly failed; having to wait days for shipping would have been more inconvenient. Fry’s is a great convenience in these cases. It’s unfortunate to see Fry’s in the zombified st…

we dont have big akihabara tech marts like japan does and frys was the closest but there are still some good local shops

for computer stuff and some consumer electronics there are a bunch of central computers and in the south bay theres anchor for electronic components and excess for surplus

Re: Is Fry’s Electronics in trouble?

#308

Post by bayareageek » Sat, Jan 04, 2020, 12:03 AM UTC

mikeryan wrote: post #290

jedberg wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Out of curiosity where are you located? As far as I can tell, all the Microcenters in the Bay Area have closed down. We still have Central Computer, which is where I had to go to get my last part when Fry's didn't have it (the special screwdriver for opening the newish Mac laptops).

I was wondering if Central was still around. They used to be my SF go to when building my own PCs.

still around

they have handful of store around the bay

Re: Is Fry’s Electronics in trouble?

#309

Post by mailslot » Sat, Jan 04, 2020, 12:17 AM UTC

lozaning wrote: post #61

ping_pong wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are the prices better than Amazon? I've never been to an electronics store that is doing better since 2000 except for the Apple Store, but I live in CA. Even Best Buy in CA is empty and more expensive for the most part.

The prices, especially if you're going to buy a mobo and a CPU at the same time in a combo deal are frequently the lowest you can find. I also shy away from amazon for some computer components because of all the fake stuff Amazon is now filled with. At MC you're much more likely to get the actual real part you ordered.

I used to love opening things from Fry’s and discovering that it was an unmarked return & not the actual product at all. Sometimes: empty box.

Re: Is Fry’s Electronics in trouble?

#310

Post by zdragnar » Sat, Jan 04, 2020, 12:18 AM UTC

mod50ack wrote: post #148

CoolGuySteve wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In NYC I've had good luck with Amazon Prime Now for urgent computer parts. I've gotten an SSD, power supply, and CPU fan for various work needs within a couple hours and without having to go on an excursion. So thank you, Rube Goldberg machine of human misery, for saving my work day on more than one occasion.

Microcenter has worked for me in NY. And they match Amazon pricing.

I want to love microcenter, it is the type of store that should be my favorite place to be.

Unfortunately, I haven't had a single good experience. Many issues were smaller things, but the single most upsetting was the time I found what I wanted (after being ignore by sales reps for awhile) only to be swarmed by reps trying to put their stickers on the box to get a commission while I walked to check out.

And then people wonder why my first instinct to buy anything is to go online and have it shipped to me.