Author Topic: Fry’s Electronics permanently closes all stores nationwide  (Read 3577 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline PeteS in CA

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 19,024
Fry’s Electronics permanently closes all stores nationwide

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

Quote
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KRON) – Fry’s Electronics is going out of business.

KRON4 has confirmed that the iconic Bay Area retailer is permanently closing the doors of all stores nationwide.

The company has changed its website so that it now just shows a goodbye message.

The message says in part,

Quote
“After nearly 36 years in business as the one-stop-shop and online resource for high-tech professionals across nine states and 31 stores, Fry’s Electronics, Inc. (“Fry’s” or “Company”), has made the difficult decision to shut down its operations and close its business permanently as a result of changes in the retail industry and the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic. The Company will implement the shut down through an orderly wind down process that it believes will be in the best interests of the Company, its creditors, and other stakeholders.

The Company ceased regular operations and began the wind-down process on February 24, 2021. It is hoped that undertaking the wind-down through this orderly process will reduce costs, avoid additional liabilities, minimize the impact on our customers, vendors, landlords and associates, and maximize the value of the Company’s assets for its creditors and other stakeholders.”

If you've never seen a Fry's, think of it as a Costco for electronic and electrical stuff. In its heyday its Campbell, CA store created traffic problems on the main streets where it was located. I won't call this a "Covid Death", but the Covid shutdowns and related buying habits changes probably pushed it over the edge.
If, as anti-Covid-vaxxers claim, https://www.poynter.org/fact-checking/2021/robert-f-kennedy-jr-said-the-covid-19-vaccine-is-the-deadliest-vaccine-ever-made-thats-not-true/ , https://gospelnewsnetwork.org/2021/11/23/covid-shots-are-the-deadliest-vaccines-in-medical-history/ , The Vaccine is deadly, where in the US have Pfizer and Moderna hidden the millions of bodies of those who died of "vaccine injury"? Is reality a Big Pharma Shill?

Millions now living should have died. Anti-Covid-Vaxxer ghouls hardest hit.

Offline GtHawk

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 18,628
  • Gender: Male
  • I don't believe in Trump anymore, he's an illusion
Re: Fry’s Electronics permanently closes all stores nationwide
« Reply #1 on: February 24, 2021, 06:42:56 pm »
Fry’s Electronics permanently closes all stores nationwide

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


If you've never seen a Fry's, think of it as a Costco for electronic and electrical stuff. In its heyday its Campbell, CA store created traffic problems on the main streets where it was located. I won't call this a "Covid Death", but the Covid shutdowns and related buying habits changes probably pushed it over the edge.
This has been coming for over a year, it started with them carrying less products, namely computers, motherboards and almost anything of a major brand label. I was surprised when they closed their Anaheim, Ca. store but knew what was coming when close to a year ago I went into the other local store in Huntington Beach, CA and the shelves were either empty or being greatly reduced in size and number and the employee gave me a BS reason of of reorganizing the store. The last six months most of what they carried was low end crap. Seems like all the places I used to go to get tools or electronics and such are dead and gone.

Online Cyber Liberty

  • Coffee! Donuts! Kittens!
  • Administrator
  • ******
  • Posts: 79,867
  • Gender: Male
  • 🌵🌵🌵
Re: Fry’s Electronics permanently closes all stores nationwide
« Reply #2 on: February 24, 2021, 07:14:54 pm »
Many years ago, I bought a "bare bones" desktop tower from them. Basically a box with a motherboard and power supply, you supplied the hard drive, software and peripherals.  It did not work at all, so I took it back and made them boot it up for me.  It failed for them, too, so they brought out another.  The fourth unit worked, after three boxes that were bad.  They took the bad ones to the back and put them back on the shelf.

I don't think I ever set foot in a Fry's Electronics again after that.
For unvaccinated, we are looking at a winter of severe illness and death — if you’re unvaccinated — for themselves, their families, and the hospitals they’ll soon overwhelm. Sloe Joe Biteme 12/16
I will NOT comply.
 
Castillo del Cyber Autonomous Zone ~~~~~>                          :dontfeed:

Offline PeteS in CA

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 19,024
Re: Fry’s Electronics permanently closes all stores nationwide
« Reply #3 on: February 24, 2021, 07:26:07 pm »
This has been coming for over a year, it started with them carrying less products, namely computers, motherboards and almost anything of a major brand label. I was surprised when they closed their Anaheim, Ca. store but knew what was coming when close to a year ago I went into the other local store in Huntington Beach, CA and the shelves were either empty or being greatly reduced in size and number and the employee gave me a BS reason of of reorganizing the store. The last six months most of what they carried was low end crap. Seems like all the places I used to go to get tools or electronics and such are dead and gone.

A lot of the technoid products are going to have to be bought online, I think. Consumer electronics and electrical appliances can be bought at Best Buy, but their customer service has been less than wonderful of late.

Between less than fun access and so-so customer service, we've avoided the Fry's nearest us, the Campbell location. Traffic was not great because all four corners of the intersection had major stores at or near the corners. It was also very close to a freeway exit. Several years ago the Elephant Bar restaurant on one of the corners closed. When In-N-Out (or CfA) proposed rebuilding and using the property the city of Campbell turned them down, supposedly for traffic reasons. Now Fry's is also closed, and In-N-Out and CfA are flourishing, elsewhere, because drive-through has always been part of their business model.
If, as anti-Covid-vaxxers claim, https://www.poynter.org/fact-checking/2021/robert-f-kennedy-jr-said-the-covid-19-vaccine-is-the-deadliest-vaccine-ever-made-thats-not-true/ , https://gospelnewsnetwork.org/2021/11/23/covid-shots-are-the-deadliest-vaccines-in-medical-history/ , The Vaccine is deadly, where in the US have Pfizer and Moderna hidden the millions of bodies of those who died of "vaccine injury"? Is reality a Big Pharma Shill?

Millions now living should have died. Anti-Covid-Vaxxer ghouls hardest hit.

Offline catfish1957

  • Laken Riley.... Say her Name. And to every past and future democrat voter- Her blood is on your hands too!!!
  • Moderator
  • *****
  • Posts: 31,354
  • Gender: Male
Re: Fry’s Electronics permanently closes all stores nationwide
« Reply #4 on: February 25, 2021, 04:27:07 pm »
Hate seeing another brick and mortar electronic store go bust.  I actually got some good deals there, and quality was good. 
Got to hand it to Best Buy, they are surviving while many of their compeitiors (including my shock at the time- Circuit City) have all fallen by the way side.
I display the Confederate Battle Flag in honor of my great great great grandfathers who spilled blood at Wilson's Creek and Shiloh.  5 others served in the WBTS with honor too.

Offline jafo2010

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 5,525
  • Dems-greatest existential threat to USA republic!
Re: Fry’s Electronics permanently closes all stores nationwide
« Reply #5 on: February 26, 2021, 08:03:32 pm »
Get used to this headline.  With Biden at the helm, everything but Target and Walmart will be shutdown.

Armagedon...it is real and coming to your neighborhood.

Offline Hoodat

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 35,815
Re: Fry’s Electronics permanently closes all stores nationwide
« Reply #6 on: February 26, 2021, 08:12:25 pm »
Good riddance.  Their business ethics sucked.
If a political party does not have its foundation in the determination to advance a cause that is right and that is moral, then it is not a political party; it is merely a conspiracy to seize power.

-Dwight Eisenhower-


"The [U.S.] Constitution is a limitation on the government, not on private individuals ... it does not prescribe the conduct of private individuals, only the conduct of the government ... it is not a charter for government power, but a charter of the citizen's protection against the government."

-Ayn Rand-

Offline Victoria33

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 7,457
  • Gender: Female
Re: Fry’s Electronics permanently closes all stores nationwide
« Reply #7 on: February 26, 2021, 08:15:29 pm »
Hate seeing another brick and mortar electronic store go bust.  I actually got some good deals there, and quality was good. 
Got to hand it to Best Buy, they are surviving while many of their compeitiors (including my shock at the time- Circuit City) have all fallen by the way side.
@catfish1957

There are two TVs in this house from Fry's, the small Acer computer I am using for this post is from there.  My good computer is from Best Buy.  Are you sure you and I didn't meet each other in Fry's or Best Buy?

BassWrangler

  • Guest
Re: Fry’s Electronics permanently closes all stores nationwide
« Reply #8 on: February 26, 2021, 08:17:50 pm »
This is sad. I can't say I ever enjoyed going to Fry's, but it was convenient to have one here in the off chance I needed something same-day and they had it in stock. Also, I really, really don't like to see Amazon get any more business than they already have.

For computer parts, I think Micro Center is better. I wish they would open one up here in the Pacific Northwest, but I guess brick-and-mortar expansions are on hold everywhere now.

Offline Elderberry

  • TBR Contributor
  • *****
  • Posts: 24,274
Re: Fry’s Electronics permanently closes all stores nationwide
« Reply #9 on: February 26, 2021, 09:42:40 pm »
I used to go to Fry's a lot as the one in Webster was close enough I could go during lunch. I built my last machine buying from Micro Center. My Go-to store for surplus electronics is EPO.

More and more I purchase online.

Online DCPatriot

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 45,792
  • Gender: Male
  • "...and the winning number is...not yours!
Re: Fry’s Electronics permanently closes all stores nationwide
« Reply #10 on: February 26, 2021, 09:53:50 pm »
My story involves the every-shrinking retail outlets that offer Hoover Wind-Tunnel Type Y replacement bags.

Two generations-old retail hardware stores closed up and last week, the young fellow checks the store's inventory and location of the vacuum-cleaner replacement bags....come up that they're only available to order online.  No longer in-store??

Bullshit!!
"It aint what you don't know that kills you.  It's what you know that aint so!" ...Theodore Sturgeon

"Journalism is about covering the news.  With a pillow.  Until it stops moving."    - David Burge (Iowahawk)

"It was only a sunny smile, and little it cost in the giving, but like morning light it scattered the night and made the day worth living" F. Scott Fitzgerald

Offline Wingnut

  • That is the problem with everything. They try and make it better without realizing the old is fine.
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 26,264
  • Gender: Male
Re: Fry’s Electronics permanently closes all stores nationwide
« Reply #11 on: February 26, 2021, 10:19:11 pm »
Good riddance.  Their business ethics sucked.

I tried to shop them when I lived in Gwinnett Co. GA   I found they seemed to practice the old master "Bait And Switch" trick on their Electronics.   If you could find an associate to help you find the sale Ad items that is.  "Sorry sir we sold out of that model but we do have this mo better model for only a few dollars more.  And today only... we will throw in a free ....
« Last Edit: February 26, 2021, 10:20:04 pm by Wingnut »
I am just a Technicolor Dream Cat riding this kaleidoscope of life.

Offline Fishrrman

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 35,355
  • Gender: Male
  • Dumbest member of the forum
Re: Fry’s Electronics permanently closes all stores nationwide
« Reply #12 on: February 26, 2021, 11:01:49 pm »

Offline DB

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 13,085
Re: Fry’s Electronics permanently closes all stores nationwide
« Reply #13 on: February 26, 2021, 11:07:03 pm »
Originally when Fry's opened its first store in the bay area it had lots of electronic components, tools and test equipment well beyond just computer and home entertainment stuff. Now there are too many variations to stock making it too costly to put it all into a physical store so someone can get exactly what they are looking for in one stop. They were also notorious for lost leader items with no stock...

Offline PeteS in CA

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 19,024
Re: Fry’s Electronics permanently closes all stores nationwide
« Reply #14 on: February 27, 2021, 12:49:34 am »
For those who build their own computers, do not scrimp on the power supply. Cheap store-brand and no-name power supplies probably violate some basic safety standards and are unlikely to be able to source their rated power for more than a few seconds without a loud noise, a bright flash, and an acrid odor. The store-brand and no-name power supplies also all but certainly scrimped on some key components that will fail in 2-5 years. If you're super curious about this, browse over to https://www.badcaps.net/forum/ , especially the "Troubleshooting Power Supplies and Power Supply Design" forum.
If, as anti-Covid-vaxxers claim, https://www.poynter.org/fact-checking/2021/robert-f-kennedy-jr-said-the-covid-19-vaccine-is-the-deadliest-vaccine-ever-made-thats-not-true/ , https://gospelnewsnetwork.org/2021/11/23/covid-shots-are-the-deadliest-vaccines-in-medical-history/ , The Vaccine is deadly, where in the US have Pfizer and Moderna hidden the millions of bodies of those who died of "vaccine injury"? Is reality a Big Pharma Shill?

Millions now living should have died. Anti-Covid-Vaxxer ghouls hardest hit.

BassWrangler

  • Guest
Re: Fry’s Electronics permanently closes all stores nationwide
« Reply #15 on: February 27, 2021, 01:12:21 am »
For those who build their own computers, do not scrimp on the power supply. Cheap store-brand and no-name power supplies probably violate some basic safety standards and are unlikely to be able to source their rated power for more than a few seconds without a loud noise, a bright flash, and an acrid odor. The store-brand and no-name power supplies also all but certainly scrimped on some key components that will fail in 2-5 years. If you're super curious about this, browse over to https://www.badcaps.net/forum/ , especially the "Troubleshooting Power Supplies and Power Supply Design" forum.

This is very true. I chased constant stability problems with a new system I built, ended up asking for suggestions on a forum that specializes in the motherboard brand I was using, and someone there said "it sounds like a power supply issue". This wasn't a cheap power supply - it was a good quality Corsair brand that I had used in my previous system. But I went ahead and replaced it, and sure enough, no more stability issues. Corsair replaced the supply, so I have a spare laying around in case I need it.

Some good brands are Seasonic, Corsair, EVGA. There are others, but those are three of the most popular, reputable brands.

BassWrangler

  • Guest
Re: Fry’s Electronics permanently closes all stores nationwide
« Reply #16 on: February 27, 2021, 01:14:48 am »
Originally when Fry's opened its first store in the bay area it had lots of electronic components, tools and test equipment well beyond just computer and home entertainment stuff. Now there are too many variations to stock making it too costly to put it all into a physical store so someone can get exactly what they are looking for in one stop. They were also notorious for lost leader items with no stock...

Yes, it sort of reminded me of the old Radio Shacks where you could go buy one of a very small few electronic components. You'd buy an LED or a pack of resistors and the package looked like it had been sitting there since the 70s. I always wondered how they managed to make money on those. Even with ridiculous mark-ups, it seemed like they'd be selling it at a loss given how long they sat on the shelf before someone bought them. A fellow electrical engineer and I used to joke that they were actually just laundering money for the mob.

Offline Wingnut

  • That is the problem with everything. They try and make it better without realizing the old is fine.
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 26,264
  • Gender: Male
Re: Fry’s Electronics permanently closes all stores nationwide
« Reply #17 on: February 27, 2021, 01:18:44 am »
Fuk Fry's.... I miss Radio Shack.   

The days of going to a store to by a  potentiometer are long gone.
I am just a Technicolor Dream Cat riding this kaleidoscope of life.

BassWrangler

  • Guest
Re: Fry’s Electronics permanently closes all stores nationwide
« Reply #18 on: February 27, 2021, 01:20:59 am »
Fuk Fry's.... I miss Radio Shack.   

The days of going to a store to by a  potentiometer are long gone.

yeah, but just go to digikey or mouser or arrow, and get a much better selection.

Online bigheadfred

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 18,511
  • Gender: Male
  • One day Closer
Re: Fry’s Electronics permanently closes all stores nationwide
« Reply #19 on: February 27, 2021, 01:30:27 am »
Get used to this headline.  With Biden at the helm, everything but Target and Walmart will be shutdown.

Armagedon...it is real and coming to your neighborhood.

Get used to this headline.

I agree. The dollar store of electronics can't survive this crap?
She asked me name my foe then. I said the need within some men to fight and kill their brothers without thought of Love or God. Ken Hensley

Offline Elderberry

  • TBR Contributor
  • *****
  • Posts: 24,274
Re: Fry’s Electronics permanently closes all stores nationwide
« Reply #20 on: February 27, 2021, 01:37:06 am »
Fortunately (for me) there is still one place left in town that I can go for components. EPO https://epohouston.com/

I've been going to them for 30 years now.



Offline Elderberry

  • TBR Contributor
  • *****
  • Posts: 24,274
Re: Fry’s Electronics permanently closes all stores nationwide
« Reply #21 on: February 27, 2021, 01:44:20 am »
For those who build their own computers, do not scrimp on the power supply. Cheap store-brand and no-name power supplies probably violate some basic safety standards and are unlikely to be able to source their rated power for more than a few seconds without a loud noise, a bright flash, and an acrid odor. The store-brand and no-name power supplies also all but certainly scrimped on some key components that will fail in 2-5 years. If you're super curious about this, browse over to https://www.badcaps.net/forum/ , especially the "Troubleshooting Power Supplies and Power Supply Design" forum.

I've even had "Top of the Line" power supplies fail right out of the box. But I had no problem getting a replacement. It only cost me time and frustration.

What is really frustrating is when you replace a bad power supply with another brand new also bad power supply. American named companies with Chinese made products.
« Last Edit: February 27, 2021, 01:48:37 am by Elderberry »

Offline DB

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 13,085
Re: Fry’s Electronics permanently closes all stores nationwide
« Reply #22 on: February 27, 2021, 09:49:32 pm »
Yes, it sort of reminded me of the old Radio Shacks where you could go buy one of a very small few electronic components. You'd buy an LED or a pack of resistors and the package looked like it had been sitting there since the 70s. I always wondered how they managed to make money on those. Even with ridiculous mark-ups, it seemed like they'd be selling it at a loss given how long they sat on the shelf before someone bought them. A fellow electrical engineer and I used to joke that they were actually just laundering money for the mob.

Back in the 70's when I was a kid I loved those Radio Shack P-Box kits... The Regenerative 3 Transistor Shortwave Radio was my first...

BassWrangler

  • Guest
Re: Fry’s Electronics permanently closes all stores nationwide
« Reply #23 on: February 27, 2021, 10:45:26 pm »
Back in the 70's when I was a kid I loved those Radio Shack P-Box kits... The Regenerative 3 Transistor Shortwave Radio was my first...

yeah, Rat Shack used to actually be a cool place for people interested in basic electronics. An even better company for that was Heathkit.

Offline DB

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 13,085
Re: Fry’s Electronics permanently closes all stores nationwide
« Reply #24 on: February 27, 2021, 11:04:19 pm »
yeah, Rat Shack used to actually be a cool place for people interested in basic electronics. An even better company for that was Heathkit.

I had/did a lot Heathkit stuff too... That was my first round of test equipment. Meters, frequency counter, oscilloscope, etc... I still have my SB-1400 HF Transceiver... I had to get rid of most of it on my last move a few years ago...