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Is Fry's Electronics in Trouble? (sfchronicle.com) 240

Posted by msmash from the another-retail-biting-the-dust dept.
The tagline "Your best buys are always at Fry's" once blanketed Bay Area airwaves, but that's no longer true of the computer retailer's Palo Alto store. From a report: A temple of electronics known as "ground zero for geek culture," the Portage Avenue Fry's Electronics closed last week after almost 30 years in business. "The Palo Alto store was a fixture for techies everywhere. It's sad they closed," said Abbi Vakil, who works as a hardware engineer in the city. "You will not find an engineer in the Bay Area who hasn't gone to Fry's for some kind of prototype building." Fry's Electronics, a San Jose company that still has dozens of stores from California to Georgia, including seven in the Bay Area, said on Twitter that it had not been able to renew the Palo Alto store's lease. But customers from Sunnyvale to Seattle have been sharing photos and videos of empty shelves on social media for months, raising speculation that the chain may be heading for bankruptcy or shrinking significantly.
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Is Fry's Electronics in Trouble? More

Is Fry's Electronics in Trouble?

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  • It must be true... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by MikeDataLink ( 536925 ) on Friday January 03, 2020 @02:23PM (#59583166) Homepage Journal

    I went to my local Fry's is Dallas a few months back and most of the shelves were empty. Except for at the front of the store there was isles of perfumes and colognes. WTF?

    • The Houston location wasn't looking bad last time I went, but that was some months back. Truth be told, I did go to Newegg first, only when I had issues with things I bought online and didn't feel like waiting on shipping, did I go to a store.

    • Did you have to swim to get there, or did they have a little boat?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Nidi62 ( 1525137 )

      Except for at the front of the store there was isles of perfumes and colognes. WTF?

      Are nerds not allowed to want to smell good?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by orlanz ( 882574 )

        Then stop by a Macy's and just walk through their perfume section. Don't need to buy anything.

      • People who wear cologne and perfume think they're covering up their stink but they're only adding to it.

        • Yeah, most perfume/cologne scents are overwhelmingly strong and only make me want to get as far away as possible.

          Take a shower if you smell bad. Or at least use unscented baby wipes.

    • I went into the North Phoenix Fry's the day before XMAS and it was EMPTY!

      Wanted to get a tablet, but only two demo units were available

      Ended up going to walmart, wasn't sure if Frys dying, or just sold out everything for Xmas

      • It isn't just that they've sold out of everything for Christmas; the shelves have been empty for months, including at the two southern California stores near me.

      • I went into the North Phoenix Fry's the day before XMAS and it was EMPTY!

        That's my home location! Every three months or so we swoop down from our mountain lair to stock up at the Two Sacred Stores. The other one is Trader Joe.

    • I was there before Christmas. Unfortunately for me it'll have to be Digikey for my electronic components needs. As you observed there's a lot of empty shelf space plus what's on the shelves is very disorganized. I'm afraid they've been Amazon'd

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Cylix ( 55374 )

      The Renton location is similarly devoid of anything.

      I was unable to even find a wireless router or hard drive. They do have tons of iphone cases and other mall trash.

      • I was unable to even find a wireless router or hard drive. They do have tons of iphone cases and other mall trash.

        Maybe that's a sign that they're copying Radio Shack's strategy for success.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by rnturn ( 11092 )

          "Maybe that's a sign that they're copying Radio Shack's strategy for success."

          Oh,... Fry's had a battery club?

          • That would be a good idea, but I think that Fry's really needs to do one thing for a successful comeback: For every single transaction (even if just a single 29-cent resistor, and no matter how long the checkout line), they need to absolutely insist that the customer verbally dictate their name, address and phone number while the clerk painstakingly writes it all down by hand onto a 3-sheet thick carbon paper receipt. The clerks should also write the description and price of every last item onto the receipt

      • The Renton store has always struck me as soulless. Its interior theme looks just like the later Sunnyvale store, but without the wonderfully wacky "engraved" quotes and important local engineering objects like Sunnyvale's Apple 1 and Klystron tube. The Renton store just has historical photos of Renton way up high where they're easily missed. Amazon has completely replaced it for me. And I will not miss the Costco-like receipt harassment at the exit, at a store I have not signed my rights away to in exchange

        • "...important local engineering objects like Sunnyvale's Apple 1 and Klystron tube"

          If those are on loan, the owner might oughtta go get them back before they walk away. An Apple 1 is probably worth more than the rest of Fry's now.

    • I just checked out your site at the geek pub.
      Pretty cool stuff. Are you involved with any organizations here is Dallas? You might enjoy Dallas Hackers Association.

      • Another DFW Slashdotter here! Got a FB link or website you can share?

        I'm out in Watauga, but willing to drive for interesting maker / tech get-togethers.

      • I just checked out your site at the geek pub.
        Pretty cool stuff. Are you involved with any organizations here is Dallas? You might enjoy Dallas Hackers Association.

        That's awesome! Never heard of it. Got a website link?

    • They apparently changed their business model from buying and reselling to consignment (basically expecting the suppliers to foot the bill for their inventory).

      It hasn't gone well.

    • Someone on Twitter shared photos a couple months back of isle after isle of empty shelves at a Bay Area location. Sad to see.

  • The Chicago location, Iâ(TM)ve been there twice in the past few months. Both times it looked like they didnâ(TM)t have a lot of inventory, lots of open places for items. The second visit you could tell theyâ(TM)d removed an entire shelf in the computer part area to make it look like they had more inventory.

  • Frys was a ghost town a couple of weeks ago (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Mike Van Pelt ( 32582 ) on Friday January 03, 2020 @02:26PM (#59583178)

    Really startling, since the last time I was there it was really busy. As others report, many empty shelves. Not many customers, either. It it were the Palo Alto store ("Cowboy/Western" theme) I'd expect tumbleweeds.

    Sad to see.

    Though, they did not have the cable I was looking for, which is part of why Amazon is eating everyone's lunch. "I drove around and around and nobody has the part I need. I went to Amazon, and it was on my doorstep the next day. Tell me again why I should fruitlessly drive around and around?"

    • Re:Frys was a ghost town a couple of weeks ago (Score:5, Informative)

      by timeOday ( 582209 ) on Friday January 03, 2020 @02:47PM (#59583286)
      That's the death spiral. When everybody was going to Frys, the shelves would have been full and they would have had your cable.

    • Tell me again why I should fruitlessly drive around and around?"

      For me, it is mostly because what I want or need to do, I can't wait the one or more days it takes for it to arrive. Some times emergencies happen. Another reason that has popped up is because I need to verify that the part fits, like the right cable connectors, which requires physically checking it in the store. Besides that, you are right.

    • Re:Frys was a ghost town a couple of weeks ago (Score:5, Informative)

      by Darinbob ( 1142669 ) on Friday January 03, 2020 @04:38PM (#59583672)

      Tell me again why I should fruitlessly drive around and around?"

      Because Amazon is evil? Because supporting local businesses help your local economy? If Amazon soon becomes the one and only retailer in the entire world, do you think they will hire all those people now out of jobs? It's like all those old people hanging out at the Walmart (just over the town's border) bemoaning the fact that downtown businesses have all closed. Maybe it's inevitable, but I still need to see an item before I buy it, the pictures on Amazon are worthless, the reviews are less than worthless, the descriptions of items are nonsensical, and it's difficult to browse things there. I am glad to say that I only bought one thing on Amazon during 2019.

  • 3 weeks before Christmas and most shelves were completely empty. They're not stocking up on anything. Their TV section is 70% empty and has been that way for most of the year. Appliance section started shrinking over the fall. Computer parts are still, mostly, well stocked but certain areas, like laptop drives, only have a few popular models.
    Not like Best Buy is doing much better but they're at least trying to evolve. They've effectively become a trade show layout - here's your Apple section - here's y

    • The advantage of a local store is the chance to shop around. Online they tend to focus you towards the best sellers. You'd think, naively, that being online you should be able to buy anything that's available to be sold, but it doesn't work that way if you can't find the right stuff. Meanwhile I got a TV a few years back that wasn't a big brand but was sitting next to all the big brands and it was a dumb TV and was selling cheaper than the others, so I got it; I would never have found that online.

      This ye

  • I have heard that the Tempe, AZ store is closing. I remember in years past when it was packed with people for Christmas shopping, but over time the crowds melted away. I was astonished how empty of customers it was during my last visit.

    Ultimately even a company like Fry's can't compete with online retailing. There was a time when Fry's sold items that were not easily found online. Now their shelves are full of what looks like low-end inventory from Amazon.

    • I didn't know it was closing, but it doesn't surprise me at all. Three years ago it was THE place for electronics of all kinds on the East side of the Valley. Two years ago, it still had items, but you could tell that the whole feeling in the store had changed. I recently went there to see if I could pick up an SSD drive. They had nothing in stock. They still had a few computer tools, but even the TV and Appliance section was mostly empty.

      On my last visit I was wearing a red polo shirt. Twice I was asked b

  • I wonder who Fry's is for nowadays.

    I am getting into hobby electronics, and Fry's doesn't really support that well. Our local store has a small selection of stuff but realistically I'm going to have to turn to online stores to get the selection of parts and tools that I need. I certainly did not think to myself "wow, this totally meets my needs". Far from it.

    System building has probably become a) more niche as more systems are simply "good enough" for more people and b) harder for stores with retail space t

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by orlanz ( 882574 )

      I think Fry's niche started erroding away from the day Dell started offering customized PCs on their websites with 2 week delivery (?2002?). Then the rest just got in on the action: the web became popular, hardware became a commodity, HP & Lenovo also started the same as Dell, Best Buy [fake] Geek Squad, etc.

      The one thing that Frys had that places like Best Buy/Amazon/Dell/HP/Lenovo didn't was atleast 1-2 really geeky knowledgable guys. They could have started workshops with that knowledge and brought

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by fermion ( 181285 )
        Fry was a bit after my time, and I never really went there because it involved driving to the middle of nowhere and risking the uncivilized areas of the city. I was an avid Microcenter customer as you were always able to find some component on sale, a pick up the latest from O'Reilley.

        But really it was like we were living back in the 1950's when you had to drive an hour to get stuff you wanted instead of just looking at specs and ordering stuff that would be here in a day or two. Honestly, I was able to

    • Sad though, as just three years ago it was nearly the opposite - stop at Fry's and you had a big choice of home routers (to compare against your list that were possibly to reflash with linux), whereas your Target or Walmart would have only 2 or 3 options. When my video card suddenly decided to stop working, it was a quick trip to Fry's to compare 20+ different cards (from $30 up to $799) and do a lot of comparison, and the computer is back up and working shortly after getting back home. Fry's used to cate

  • This was the Las Vegas Fry's during the AWS Re:Invent conference in early December. https://photos.app.goo.gl/W5Cr... [app.goo.gl] Much was missing and about half of the shelves were empty.

    • Yea, its nothing like it used to be. Used to be in line for 30 minutes sometimes waiting to check out and they would have 10-15 registers open at that time too. They don't even have motherboards or CPU's at the frys here anymore... I have seen a lot of "frys is dying" articles the last 6 months or so. And frys keeps responding with "were changing product models" Trying to go to consignment like Walmart and Home Depot do. But I think they may have shot their self in the foot with this one. Will be a sad day

      • Fry's has been sliding for years. They didn't pay employees enough to care very much, didn't train them on their areas, and had anti-theft processes that were clunky, inconvenient, and of questionable effectiveness. Stock was often questionable with a lot of returns not well checked for contents. The only places that seemed to remain well-stocked were the DIY electronics aisles, but people shopping those aisles by nature didn't need much help.

        • One of my favorite Fry's stories is about returns. Some enterprising customer had purchased a Zip drive and then returned the "unopened" product; into the big return bin it went. Out on the shelves again, it was purchased, taken home, opened, and inside...potatoes. Raw.

      • Used to be in line for 30 minutes sometimes waiting to check out and they would have 10-15 registers open at that time too

        So many checkouts running that Fry's had an employee whose entire job it was to direct the next customer in line to a suitable open register, which in some cases was below the observer's horizon. In those days Fry's was the American version of the Akihabara Market.

  • The Indianapolis store isn't any better, it seems. Many bare shelves, few staff left, and the feel of death about the place. I will greatly miss them when they close.

  • I went into my local Fry's about a month ago. I needed a new monitor, and thought it'd be nice to see a good selection in person. The PC section was a very sad sight. Mostly laptops, a couple desktops. They had three or four monitors out, but they were all turned off. All low-end monitors. Complete waste of time.

  • In Seattle we had a place, Radar Electric, down kind of between Interbay and Belltown on lower Queen Anne. For decades, that was the go-to electronics store for many of us for all sorts of electrical / electronic needs. Heck, even if I didn't need anything myself I'd happily tag along with a coworker or friend when they went to Radar.

    But the internet has changed the world, and it's an open question how much of a viable market there is now for most types of retail sales. Radar closed their (retail) doors in

  • The one in Wilsonville (near Portland OR) has been a shadow for some time; rumor has it that redevelopment of the area is going to put a road through it, but I'm sure the stores are getting killed by the convenience of online shopping.

  • I used to live going to Fry’s but the last time i went to the store here in Austin the shelves were empty and there were very few people in the store. I can’t imagine it could continue like that very long.

  • Lost lease, but yes they are in trouble. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Bruce Perens ( 3872 ) <bruce@perens.com> on Friday January 03, 2020 @02:47PM (#59583282) Homepage Journal

    The Palo Alto location was a one-story building from another age, with a large parking lot, surrounded by multi-story headquarters of the most lucrative businesses. It's close to Stanford and the Sand Hill Road VCs. Fry's lost their lease. I would assume that the site will be bulldozed and rebuilt as multi-story with in-building parking.

    That said, I can confirm that if you go to Fry's looking for a new laptop, you will mostly find refurbished units and old models they couldn't sell. And you will notice that there aren't many people shopping, and that the shelves are astonishingly bare.

    I used to go there often, but online stores have become my main source for electronics and computer hardware. I doubt I'm alone in that. Even back when I was a frequent customer, I would find that the stuff I bought at Fry's was often old models rather than the manufacturer's current ones. Toward the end I was looking everything up on my phone before putting it in a cart. Sort of defeats the purpose of shopping in a brick-and-mortar.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by cusco ( 717999 )

      We used to go to Fry's fairly often, but first the quality of salescritters dropped, then the quality of goods dropped, then more often than not the item we wanted to buy was out of stock and only the display was available. We stopped going about a year and a half ago.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by dgatwood ( 11270 )

        Likewise. Ten years ago, I could almost guarantee that they would have whatever I needed more than 90% of the time, and it was worth spending a few extra bucks more to get things immediately. These days, it is more like 10%, if that, and it isn't worth getting in the car only to be disappointed and have to buy it on Amazon anyway. Sometimes I check the Fry's website first, but lately, I've just about stopped even bothering, because half the time, their stock numbers are wrong, so you get over there and

  • Our store in Indy has gone to hell as well, we have tons of Amazon DCs so our entire area is covered by same day delivery as well as a Newegg DC that offers same day pick-up. Fry's will be like losing Radioshack, it was the local store of last resort for me if I needed something odd.

    -Also I don't come here often anymore, but wtf I can't post anonymously without logging in?

    • 3 years ago I had a graphics card go bad on my PC.
      Did some quick net research and found a make/model/style I wanted, mid-level NVidia, and headed over to Fry's to pick it up and they didn't have any of the mid-level NVidia cards in stock - my choices were low end or extreme high end NVidia or AMD cards (and a relatively small selection at that.)
      Disgruntled I went to dinner with some friends then got home late and at 1am Sunday morning, started researching cards again and found the card I wanted on Amazon AN

    • I don't come here often anymore, but wtf I can't post anonymously without logging in?

      They implemented it a month or two ago to deal with the spam problem. There are still some golden oldies around, but it's a much cleaner experience now.

  • I remember that as Radio Shack!

    Or better: Bell Labs and similar places.

  • The Fry's in Willsonville, OR (Portland, OR Metro area) has also been a ghost town for months. I was there around Thanksgiving and they had one motherboard in stock - not one model of motherboard, one motherboard. I was there a week ago and they had zero motherboards. It appears they did not bring in any inventory for the Christmas season. The store has mostly empty shelves containing what appears to be old stock of low interest items. Walking around was kind of spooky.

  • The Downers Grove (IL) store would be full of crickets except they're not restocking the crickets either.

    Meanwhile the Microcenter a couple of miles away is bustling with serpentine lines at the registers.

  • Last couple of times I've went in there the stock has continued to decrease. Long ago they changed the entire book section over to toys, perfume and other items but the signs at the end of the isles still claim to be books. I last went in there about a month ago to buy a new laptop, there were no demonstration models nor salespeople, so I guess I'll shop elsewhere for the laptop.
    It's pretty much a wasted trip to go there now, nothing to buy. They keep giving me different stories ab

  • I have been to several Fry's over the years (lived in Dallas, Seattle and Indy) and bought thousands of dollars there over the years. However they never moved on with the times. Their online presence was a joke, their real time inventory was a joke, their email of codes was a joke. I shouldn't have to go to the store, and wonder what the price was going to be (not the same as online), whether they have inventory, and if they are going to honor the sale price I found on their website.

    Last time I went to t

  • Walmart for electronics ? Give me a break. I had to pick up a Power Supply on Jan 1 and Walmart, Target, Staples and other such stores never crossed my mind. I only heard of Fry's on /., but here there is a similar store. I went there and was able to get a PS without any issues

    Eventually for such things we will be forced to shop on-line, then you will see prices skyrocket since there will be no local store to go to. But there will be no one to talk to and if the part does not fit, return and buy again

  • As a child of the 80s, I've always loved visiting Fry's. Was sad visiting the Vegas location last week to buy a wifi 6 router for the parents only to learn they were out of stock...of all routers. Hope a miracle happens!

  • (as there seems to be a lot of indy people here on slashdot today!)
    The Fry's indy store was originally The Incredible Universe - Radio Shack's foray into a big electronics store! (and later an Autonation)
    It had Laserdiscs!

  • Official explanation (Score:5, Interesting)

    by optikos ( 1187213 ) on Friday January 03, 2020 @03:21PM (#59583424)
    When I asked if they are going out of business, the official explanation relayed to me by a manager at a Fry's is:
    1) They are selling down current stock to facilitate laying out the store's floorplan differently (expending only a minimum of moving labor) so that the self-service merchandise (and thus generally lower-priced) is at the rear of the store and the salesperson-supported items (and thus generally higher priced) is nearer the entrances.
    2) They are analyzing what sells well at higher margin in the Amazon era.
    3) The floorplan reorg occurs by end of January 2020, because by that time there will be less weight & minutia to move around (than in a fully-stocked store).
    4) The new-product supply trucks arrive during February 2020 to fill the revamped floorplan.

    Of course, if March 2020 arrives and #3 and #4 on the list never occurred, this response from the manager might have been nothing more than a mere sounds-good plausible cover story for going out of business at some point.

    • Re:Official explanation (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Waffle Iron ( 339739 ) on Friday January 03, 2020 @03:55PM (#59583532)

      Seems to me that it would make more sense to pay some temp people minimum wage to move around the extra stock, as opposed to making most of your customers think that you're going out of business (so they never return).

    • Re:Official explanation (Score:4, Insightful)

      by DarkOx ( 621550 ) on Friday January 03, 2020 @04:08PM (#59583570) Journal

      I am not buying that one. The biggest expense big-box retail has is real-estate in most cases. Hell even if they wanted to avoid paying anyone time and half it would probably make more sense to close the store for a weekend or even a week and then have a "Grand Re-Opening"

      (I have done financial computing / activity based costing work for big retail)

      There is NO-way a semi-national large-format retailer that isn't in dire straits would allow prime floor space to sit empty of product for a period of months, especially not during the holiday season! The also would be very very unlikely to shift ever store at once.

      1) You lose a ton of foot traffic and mind share
      2) You make customers believe they will be disappointed so they don't bother shopping you in the future
      3) You still gotta pay the rent and utilities on all the retail space while you earn virtually no revenue
      4) You either layoff and incur the cost of training new personnel later -or- you pay a bunch of people to stand in empty stores
      5) You force yourself to bat-down "....is dying" articles in the press; recalling that most people just read the headlines and will conclude that your shop.

      In short what was described to you is about the stupidest plan for transiting store formats I can imagine. I will be shocked if it turns out to be true. I'll be absolutely floored if it subsequently works out for them.

      No the most likely explanation is your store manager was fed that line for corporate. Corporate is desperately seeking financing or a buyer because otherwise they are going to have to wind down the business. They apparently can't afford to buy or get credit to carry inventory so have already had to attempt the consignment model to keep anything on the shelf. They don't want to tell their store staff this because if they do all the store managers will jump ship, which will torpedo their orderly wind down or otherwise make it even harder to sell the business.

  • Burbank CA Location is Popping (Score:3)

    by DatbeDank ( 4580343 ) on Friday January 03, 2020 @03:22PM (#59583430)

    The Fry's in Burbank CA is a GODSEND! The place is always packed with people and is fully stocked. I always go there first when I need anything. They're really a cross between an appliance, electronics, and multimedia store. Frankly, I absolutely love it.

    They saved my rear end when our fridge died. Went in and bought a new one and had it delivered by the end of the day.

    I went to one in San Jose. I think it was the Mayan themed one. Anywho, the store was still just as nicely stocked. Definitely not empty.
    Getting in and out was quick and easy.

    When I moved to California, it made me so happy to be able to walk into a store to buy 1 capacitor. Screw having to buy that stuff online.
    Here's hoping they don't close down their stores.

  • ArsTechnica just posted their DeathWatch list for 2020, and although Fry's wasn't on the list, it was one of the most discussed in the comments section.

    https://arstechnica.com/inform... [arstechnica.com]

  • What is going to happen to retail when Amazon and Wallmart are the only players left standing?
  • FTFA:

    Fry's has adamantly denied the rumors, saying the shelves are empty because it has shifted to a consignment model, meaning that suppliers get paid for goods only after a store has sold them.

    Why was this left out of TF summary?

    Either this model clearly isn't working or there's some serious competency issues or both. Regardless, it's mysterious and almost surreal (when you visit a store) as to how long this has been allowed to drag out.

  • You know how stores look when they are having the âoeGOING OUT OF BUSINESS! EVERYTHING MUST GO!â sales? This is the way the Woodland Hills, LA location looked around spring in 2019. Even though there was no sign or press indicating this, I assumed the announcement would be forthcoming within a few months judging from the shape the shelves and inventory were in (and the fact that it was a marked change from a year or so prior). But, as it turns out, they are still open and I havenâ(TM)t hea

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by eepok ( 545733 )

      I stay down the street from the Woodland Hills Fry's every time I go down there to visit family, but haven't had the time to step in. I've always wondered: what's the theme?

      • Itâ(TM)s an Alice in Wonderland theme. The best theme in this area is the alien invasion theme in Burbank, replete with a UFO crashed into the outside store facade. Havenâ(TM)t been to the Burbank location in at least 5 years myself - noticed a comment above claiming itâ(TM)s actually well-stocked which makes me curious.

  • First, because of Betteridge, second, it's dead, Jim, not troubled.

  • One thing that the Internet has taught me is that if I behave in a certain way or have a certain opinion, there are thousands (if not millions) who are similar to me; I guess I never could confirm this idea before the 'net.

    'Case in point, I was last in Fry's a decade ago when I built a PC. I am upgrading that PC now, but will probably not go to Fry's due to other choices available to me today. If thousands behave similarly, I don't see how it can survive.

  • ... was virtually empty just a few days before Christmas. I should have taken pictures. An aisle that would normally have hundreds of hard drives in the shelves had just three. Luckily they still had several bins of the ethernet cables I was looking for.

    The girl at the exit that checked my receipt told a couple of men in front of me that they'd "changed suppliers and the truck hadn't arrived yet". Seriously, you change suppliers at the height of the holiday rush? So we're to believe that the old supplier g

  • This isn't new: my last trip to Fry's (Renton, August 2018) was an exercise in empty shelves, deserted aisles, a challenge to find anything worth buying.

    I remember Fry's in the '90s. The Kern Avenue store in Sunnyvale was an amazing place. Fry's in the '20s is in a death spiral.

    ...laura

  • Over here on the east coast:

    Silo
    Comp USA
    Computer City
    Circuit City
    Bryn Mawr Stereo
    Radio Shack
    H.H. Gregg

    Crazy Eddie - Never was to one, but the commercials and scandals were fun.

    only Best Buy still stands, hardly ever went there because the stores weren't as close as the others, well they are now, and the service now is better than most of the others ever had. No Fry's out here.

    List of defunct stores [wikipedia.org]
    • Oh and I forgot the living dead corpse that is Sears, they used to have a rather complete computer department. And electronics department. And appliance department. And tools department. And hardware department. And furniture department. And...

  • One word: Phones (Score:3)

    by SmaryJerry ( 2759091 ) on Friday January 03, 2020 @06:25PM (#59583996)
    Fry's is dying, anyone who has been to their store can tell they are just trying to pay the bills while they figure out how to wind down best, by bankruptcy or sale. Anyways the reason is phones. Phones replaces most of what Fry's offers. It replaces your tv, computers, cameras, games, books, movies, and all the associated parts and peripherals to those that Fry's sells. And not only did it replace those items but Fry's doesn't even really sell phones. They have one tiny desk dedicated to Samsung devices and no people there to even help you buy it, and I'm pretty sure you can't even activate it at the Frys with any carrier and get any of the sign up and get two phones free crap. Combine that with the fact cell carrier stores both brand name and off brand have opened up around every corner. That doesn't leave Fry's with much items with a profit margin especially considering they match online prices.

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