RIP Fry’s - I feel partly responsible....

tvmaster

tvmaster

True Classic
Last edited:
I was not in the South Bay for the Fry's Supermarkets era, but I still have a few wide, yellow receipts from the original Fry's Electronics store on Oakmead Parkway / Lakeside Drive. Somewhere I also have the PC clone and 9" monochrome (green) monitor I bought there around 1988.

It is sad that they are closing, but in the past several years I hardly ever went there.
 
ng_randolph said:
I was not in the South Bay for the Fry's Supermarkets era, but I still have a few wide, yellow receipts from the original Fry's Electronics store on Oakmead Parkway / Lakeside Drive. Somewhere I also have the PC clone and 9" monochrome (green) monitor I bought there around 1988.

It is sad that they are closing, but in the past several years I hardly ever went there.
Click to expand...
They had lines going out the door at that little place just before moving to the much bigger store on Lawrence.
 
Our store in Wilsonville Oregon replaced an Incredible Universe; I went there, too.
 
Covid-19 really put the final nail in the coffin. They were on shaky ground because of many things; Amazon, NewEgg, and Microcenter to a lesser degree, but I think the iPad and cell phone took a lot of self-made, home computers out of the game, and that was their defining thing, geeks who make computers. Maybe tv’s a little, and CD’s / DVD’s demise didn’t help either.
It‘s too bad. When I moved here from the north I’d never seen anything like it.
And then Tower Records left, and CompUSA, and Goodguys, leaving just Fry’s serving all those markets.
Somehow, it just wasn’t enough.
More jobs lost, and now, one less place to actually touch something before you buy it. :(
 
One thing that did not help them was their horrible web site. I don't think it ever made it beyond 90s technology. It had a very crude search engine and the chances of finding anything there were not good, even if it was something you knew they had in the store. I first became suspicious that things were not going well in the fall of 2019 when their inventory went to a small fraction of what it had been in all of their stores in the Bay Area.
 
dllubin said:
One thing that did not help them was their horrible web site. I don't think it ever made it beyond 90s technology. It had a very crude search engine and the chances of finding anything there were not good, even if it was something you knew they had in the store. I first became suspicious that things were not going well in the fall of 2019 when their inventory went to a small fraction of what it had been in all of their stores in the Bay Area.
Click to expand...
Yes, the O.C. inventory got pretty sketchy at the end of 2019. And yeah, their web site integration was really bad considering their biggest competition were, well, online web sellers. It’s like when Blackberry completely missed what Apple was up to.
Even Microcenter has a better online/instore inventory control system...
 
I was surprised the other day when I stopped there to get something and found it closed for good. For one thing about a year ago they announced they were building a second store here in Vegas. And it was only about a week go I got the weekly "sales" email from them. Furthermore there was no notice about it closing, no "going out of business" sale, no indication of things changing. However I must say the local store had been very slow since the Covid impact hit, so I guess I shouldn't be that surprised. And I agree about the terrible website, which is ironic for a computer specialist company. It's kinda like all of the home improvement stores having inoperable plumbing in the restrooms. o_O

I remember when Frys was always packed full of customers and long lines at the registers. They had a difficult return policy, and for the most part the employees weren't well trained. But with most of the other electronic stores gone they were about the only option. By the way, is "BestBuy" still in business? I haven't seen anything from them in a couple years. The last time I was at one I noticed their inventory was mostly appliances (the parent company also owns a very large chain of appliance stores).

I suggest you did through your wallet and find any store gift cards, credit vouchers, merchandise return credits, etc, and use them before any other major chain stores go under.
 
Dr.Jeff said:
By the way, is "BestBuy" still in business? I haven't seen anything from them in a couple years.
Click to expand...
I was just reading an article that said Best Buy had its best financial year in two decades, with its stock up 33%. Lots of pandemic work-from-home buying, supposedly. That said, the coming year is supposed to be rough with more layoffs and store closures. BB announced it missed its holiday sales target and the stock is down 10% following that. Another article says the closure of Fry's may be worth $400m per year in sales to BB.

Fry's store designs were wonderful and made you want to spend time there, even if you didn't really need anything. Sometimes I'd go just for something to do and end up staying far longer than I intended, usually buying something I didn't need.
 
Last edited:
The one in Renton, WA was really nice when it first opened. Huge footprint, tons of appliances, components, computer parts/cases/cards/CPUs/motherboards. A large computer and monitor section, home stereo TVs, instruments and a HUGE DVD and book section. And in the center it had a little cafe that served sandwiches and the like. You could make a day of it. And yes, checkout lines were long.

Over the past couple years, the few times I went in, the entire store was only about 2/3rds full of stuff. Some sections like the DVDs and stereo section it was maybe 1/2 full. It was kind of sad, the spark had faded. The cafe was used for storage and there were no lines in the checkout areas.

Sad to see because I miss the old one. But nostalgia rarely can support an entire business--especially retail.
 
Used to make a bee line to Fry’s every time I was in CA on business, there was nothing like it in the UK. Wandered around for ages in awe of the cheap tech available off the self....
 
bjwhite said:
The one in Renton, WA was really nice when it first opened.
Click to expand...
This was one of my favorite shops during my stays in Seattle. First time I visited I was surprised by the size of the store, and I realized that the expression "everything is big in America" is true. They had the latest computer and electronic stuff much cheaper than in EU. The only downside was the 110V plugs that require ugly adapters to work in EU.
 
Bjorn Nilson said:
This was one of my favorite shops during my stays in Seattle. First time I visited I was surprised by the size of the store, and I realized that the expression "everything is big in America" is true. They had the latest computer and electronic stuff much cheaper than in EU. The only downside was the 110V plugs that require ugly adapters to work in EU.
Click to expand...
You want silly plugs, head to the UK. haha. HUGE for no reason and switches on their outlets. Amazing.

At least North American and Japan plugs are small. I'm a huge Europhile, but two things you guys do wrong--your plugs, and your airport departure boards. Sorting by departure time with trains is fine. But airport departure boards should be sorted by destination, not time of departure. :)
 
As gamers turned to XBox and Playstation, instead of home-built gaming PC’s, that didn’t help. But you’re right, you could easily get lost in there for half a day for no reason at all. It used to be like Costco: you couldn’t leave without spending $100.
 
tvmaster said:
It used to be like Costco: you couldn’t leave without spending $100.
Click to expand...
It was easy to spend hundreds of $$$ at Fry's. Their shopping carts were very big but very easy to fill with things you didn't know you needed until you found them. Once again; "everything is big in America" 😆.
I think US has improved when it comes to electrical outlets. Lately I managaged to squeeze in my EU charger in an outlet that looked something like ¡¡.
 
Last edited:
tvmaster said:
Fry’s, a southern USA nerd palace, has finally decided they can’t compete anymore. Like Radio Shack before, young folk have replaced Fry’s with online. And that includes me because of Covid. It’s a sad day for bricks & mortar. They even had a decent automotive audio section where you could touch and hear, and that goes a long way. Sniff....

https://www.kron4.com/news/national/frys-electronics-permanently-closes-nationwide/

The now-dead site: https://www.frys.com/
Click to expand...
Our local Fry's was located close to the Burbank Airport and had a flying saucer crashed into the side of it. Alien figures and all sorts of paraphernalia could be found in the store as décor too. Kinda like the Stars Wars Tour in Disneyland with a FREE admission.

I too found the "help" there not too helpful and I don't ever recall ever purchasing anything from there. But what a kick to visit.
 
Last edited:
The reason UK plugs are the way they are is because they are fused. They need to be fused as the UK used ring circuits after WWII. The outlets can either be switch or not, the outlets are shuttered to stop small people shoving something pointy in them. The pins are insulated halfway down to prevent electrocution when they are removed from the socket, they are probably the safest plugs available. Having used US plugs for years I’d rather use UK plugs as they don’t fall out and stay where they are supposed to without any risk of getting an electric shock! Euro Schuko plugs also stay where they are supposed to and are a better design for radial circuits being sunk down below the wall surface you can’t touch the pins before the plug is removed.
 
Last edited:
Sigh, I spent plenty of time in Frys but the one constant thing about Retailers is churn. As a retailer, Fry's was pretty bad. They built monster stores (lots of overhead). When they were busy, every line was long and it was almost impossible to find anything without assistance.

Here is a list of long gone big box stores that I recall since my teenage years
White Front
ValuMart
Kmart
CompUSA
Computer City
The Good Guys
Levitz
Egghead
Circuit City
Woolworth
Kress
Payless
Pay n Save
Pay n Pak
GI Joe's

on and on......
 
Very goo
dnudelman said:
Sigh, I spent plenty of time in Frys but the one constant thing about Retailers is churn. As a retailer, Fry's was pretty bad. They built monster stores (lots of overhead). When they were busy, every line was long and it was almost impossible to find anything without assistance.

Here is a list of long gone big box stores that I recall since my teenage years
White Front
ValuMart
Kmart
CompUSA
Computer City
The Good Guys
Levitz
Egghead
Circuit City
Woolworth
Kress
Payless
Pay n Save
Pay n Pak
GI Joe's

on and on......
Click to expand...

Very good point and analysis... its what makes me cherish the Mom & Pop's hardware stores and the like that rarely still exist.

Oh... I just thought of another, ZODY'S!

When I do find some help with the knowledge of their department its seems they don't stay there very long. I know of one person that was great at Home Depot and later found her working at Lowes. Then disappeared.

I find I need to study and know what I'm looking for no matter what the product or store is as I have rarely been able to rely on the sales staff. Just part of the New Normal...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top