"Fry's Electronics" - what's going on with this store?

There's plenty of stories like that. Circuit City. Here in Colorado we had this big electronics retailer called Soundtrack who had been around for decades and really were a force, selling all ranges of A/V up to fairly high end. They were swallowed up by a conglomerate called Ultimate Electronics, who ran them into the ground. There are still smaller sellers, but I wonder how Best Buy even stays in business.

 

Yep, the writing is on the wall for Frys. I've seen Youtube videos showing the empty shelves in the stores. I used to love that place. It was the ultimate electronics candy store.

 

According to recent news articles, Best Buy is one of the few B&M retailers that is thriving. I think they managed to find a good balance between their physical stores and their online sales.

 

I still love going to my local Fry's, which I do probably once or twice a year, but it's had fewer items each time I've gone. Earlier this year I found myself going probably once every few months and even those trips yielded less merch each time, sometimes significantly so. They don't seem long for the world at this moment.

For those who aren't familiar with the store, I think of them as Best Buy meets Costco: an electronics store but so big and warehouse-y they have a lot of stuff BB can't carry. If they close I don't think I will be able to go back and forth trying to find the right computer cable and succeeding in one day, for example. What is a simple in-store solution might take a week or more, easily, if I have to do back-and-forth via shipping. Maybe I'd just buy what I think I need and return what doesn't work, and pay return shipping. I'd hate that, and would still have to wait until another day to hopefully solve my problem.

 

I went into the Illinois store on Black Friday night. First time in months.

Lots of empty shelves (wasn’t sure if they had a really good day, or going out of business). I was not able to find camcorder battery or charger I needed.

Most stuff is available elsewhere, but they became the replacement for Radio Shack DIY components, so that is more the loss.

 

Same here in Phoenix. Both of our Fry's Electronics stores are practically empty of product these days. They'll be closing their doors soon, I'm sure.

 

I feel the same way. My friend and I would spend half a Sat there,, and even have a light lunch in the little cafe in the middle of the store. We couldn't believe the change last time we went.

 

It is sad that B&M stores and the catering to the browsing customers are a thing of the past- online shopping has taken over. I was really disappointed to see that Best Buy has gotten rid of almost all of their browsing stock of BluRays/
DVDs (the store in Hamburg shopping complex in Lexington KY had reduced their display shelves to less than a half dozen). I can’t speak on Target stores- I haven’t been in one of their stores in years. Sam’s Club seems to have gone away from selling physical media. It’s strange that Wally World still has a decent selection of media, especially UHD (I would think UHD isn’t something their shoppers are interested in).

 

I bought my current TV from Fry's for that reason. I live quite near a Fry's in Houston. It is right next to the Park and Ride that I go to every work day, so it was convenient for me to stop by there. I used to love going there. I've bought lots of computer stuff there - hard drives, power supplies, video cards, etc. They used to have a great media section. I bought lots of Blu-rays, including a few special edition box sets, and CDs and SACDs. Once the products started being regularly out of stock, I stopped going there. It got to shere I couod not even get my printer ink there any more. It saddens me to see them go.

 

Growing up in San Jose, I knew the Fry's chain as a local grocery store chain. In those days when one of the Fry children grew up, they were given a store to manage. When the Fry family sold their chain, Randy Fry didn't want to use the proceeds for retail grocery work but rather for retail electronics work. I remember their first store in Sunnyvale, a modest affair.

 

I bought my present set from Best Buy for the reason that they would deliver and take away my old set, which was a DLP rear projector. Disposal of bulky electronics items isn't that easy anymore - no simple trips to the dump.

 

Amazon makes returns about as easy as possible. Simply go online to request a return, print out the pre-paid shipping label, and either drop off the item at the shipper or arrange for a pickup (depending on which option you choose). I have returned several items to Amazon, and it's always quicker than driving to a store and standing in the returns line -- and I drop off my Amazon returns at the local UPS store.

That being said, I have yet to purchase a large screen TV online, but have purchased my last several disc players and my last Denon receiver online. I would have no worries ordering my next large display online.

 

https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/09/10/frys-tries-to-quell-rumors-of-its-demise-as-customers-worry-about-empty-shelves/ -- Long story short: Trump Tarriffs on Chinese made electronics are whats killing Frys..

 

Is that a more recent development? My past experiences with Amazon were I had to pay return shipping unless it was due to a damaged product. Amazon didn’t support returning if I simply didn’t like a product, like normal B&M stores do. So I didn’t buy things that I might plausibly want to return.

 

Amazon Returns: It's super easy now to return stuff at Amazon. I bought an electronics piece that didn't work as I had hoped. All I had to do was package the item, slap on the return label, and drop it off at the Kohl's Department Store about a mile away from my house. No cost.

Fry's: Man, I used to love going to Fry's when I lived in CA. I'd spend ages there planning out a new PC build. I was thrilled when I moved to Illinois and found a store about 10 miles away from me. But, yeah, their stock has been really low the last few years. When my power supply on my PC died I ran out to Fry's to pick one up over waiting a couple of days from Amazon. Choice was very low, and there was only one PSU which fit what I needed. I wandered the store to look at other stuff and found a lot of things (graphic cards, keyboards, etc) only had a few options to choose from. I still like browsing because you often find things you didn't know existed, or that you needed until you saw it.