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

Re: Is Fry’s Electronics in trouble?

#61

Post by lozaning » Fri, Jan 03, 2020, 4:33 PM UTC

ping_pong wrote: post #54

jcranmer wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been to the Boston, Chicago, and DC-area Microcenters, and had good experiences with all of them (although the Boston one could use a larger parking lot). Never actually been to a Fry's store--it seems that Fry's mostly set up west of the Mississippi and Microcenter east of it.

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.

Re: Is Fry’s Electronics in trouble?

#62

Post by carapace » Fri, Jan 03, 2020, 4:37 PM UTC

If you're in the SF Bay Area, and you like electronics, do yourself a favor and check out Al Lasher's Electronics in Berkeley: http://allashers.com/ "Family owned and operated since 1960."

Re: Is Fry’s Electronics in trouble?

#63

Post by jcranmer » Fri, Jan 03, 2020, 4:38 PM UTC

ping_pong wrote: post #54

jcranmer wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been to the Boston, Chicago, and DC-area Microcenters, and had good experiences with all of them (although the Boston one could use a larger parking lot). Never actually been to a Fry's store--it seems that Fry's mostly set up west of the Mississippi and Microcenter east of it.

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.

When I was last looking at prices, the prices were not better than what I found online... but they were not worse either.

Re: Is Fry’s Electronics in trouble?

#64

Post by cameronfraser » Fri, Jan 03, 2020, 4:47 PM UTC

ping_pong wrote: post #43

jcranmer wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Fry's is dead. Chalk one up for Amazon and automation a-la Andrew Yang. It's easy to say that, but then the retort is why isn't Micro Center suffering the same issues? The two should be facing exactly the same pressure from Amazon, so the reasons for Fry's failures has to be more nuanced than "internet retailers are sucking everyone dry." For my part, I'm much more willing to buy computer parts in person because a)…

I've been to a Micro center once in my life, in Sunnyvale, in Mercado. The prices were worse than Staples for computer equipment so I never went back. I don't even know if it's still there anymore. I have no idea which part of the country you live in, but I would be shocked if in the Bay Area, Micro Center would be considered a "success". I can see how some stores, depending on their business agreements, might be abl…

Microcenter can beat most fully online retailers on pricing if you're patient.

Re: Is Fry’s Electronics in trouble?

#65

Post by volkl48 » Fri, Jan 03, 2020, 4:49 PM UTC

ping_pong wrote: post #54

jcranmer wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been to the Boston, Chicago, and DC-area Microcenters, and had good experiences with all of them (although the Boston one could use a larger parking lot). Never actually been to a Fry's store--it seems that Fry's mostly set up west of the Mississippi and Microcenter east of it.

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.

Their sales/deals are often the lowest price going, particularly their combo deals.

For non-sale stuff, they're usually in a competitive ballpark, although I wouldn't necessarily say cheaper, and I don't have to worry about counterfeits, or the "might be used/refurbed" roulette.

Re: Is Fry’s Electronics in trouble?

#66

Post by mikelward » Fri, Jan 03, 2020, 4:50 PM UTC

mikelward wrote: post #5

madengr wrote: post #3

Micro Center seems to be going fine. Fully stocked (with the exception of CPU) and always busy. No issues price matching online either.

The one in the Bay Area (Santa Clara Mercado) closed years ago and became a Walmart. As far as I know, there's only one in SoCal still open (Tustin).

Parent was talking about Microcenter, not Fry's.

Re: Is Fry’s Electronics in trouble?

#67

Post by mikelward » Fri, Jan 03, 2020, 4:51 PM UTC

Aloha wrote: post #21

mikelward wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The one in the Bay Area (Santa Clara Mercado) closed years ago and became a Walmart. As far as I know, there's only one in SoCal still open (Tustin).

https://www.frys.com/ac/storeinfo/fountain_valley-location-f...

This subthread was about Microcenter.

Re: Is Fry’s Electronics in trouble?

#68

Post by mikelward » Fri, Jan 03, 2020, 4:51 PM UTC

luckydata wrote: post #31

mikelward wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The one in the Bay Area (Santa Clara Mercado) closed years ago and became a Walmart. As far as I know, there's only one in SoCal still open (Tustin).

There's one in Sunnyvale, one in Fremont and one in Palo Alto.

This subthread was about Microcenter, not Fry's.

Re: Is Fry’s Electronics in trouble?

#69

Post by mikelward » Fri, Jan 03, 2020, 4:52 PM UTC

bigyikes wrote: post #27

mikelward wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The one in the Bay Area (Santa Clara Mercado) closed years ago and became a Walmart. As far as I know, there's only one in SoCal still open (Tustin).

There is still one open in Sunnyvale a few miles away from Santa Clara Mercado, but I’m not sure how much longer it’ll be around.

This subthread was about Microcenter.

Re: Is Fry’s Electronics in trouble?

#70

Post by madengr » Fri, Jan 03, 2020, 4:59 PM UTC

ping_pong wrote: post #54

jcranmer wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been to the Boston, Chicago, and DC-area Microcenters, and had good experiences with all of them (although the Boston one could use a larger parking lot). Never actually been to a Fry's store--it seems that Fry's mostly set up west of the Mississippi and Microcenter east of it.

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.

Just lookup the item on your phone when shopping at Microcenter, then show the price to a sales person. They even have a sign saying they will price match Amazon and Walmart.