Havent been there in a long time as I moved out of state. My local Frys in Concord had been a ghost town for more than a year so this isnt a surprise. Reading through these comments Im left feeling like were really bad at adapting to change. Fry's Electronics, Inc. ("Fry's" or "Company"), announced Wednesday it has closed permanently after 36 years in business. Down from a peak of 34 locations in 2019. shoutout to Santa Cruz Electronics. Initially, the company started a campaign to price-match any item you could find online. Mitsuru Yamada liked Magnetic Core Memory The Dr Cockroach Way. It actually felt creepy and kind of wrong to be there, Im not kidding! Sort of different, but that experience reminds me of a burrito place a couple blocks from where I used to live. Everything from vacuum tubes to chips. Karen Dowarot wrote a comment on Teaching technical writing. That has left the older distributors playing a game of catch-up ever since. [17][18] One of the few stores to challenge Fry's in all dimensions (production selection and store-wide themes) was Incredible Universe, a series of Tandy (Radio Shack) superstores, which were established in 1992 and bought out and converted into Fry's in 1996. Updated: 11:23 PM EST February 24, 2021 INDIANAPOLIS Fry's Electronics has announced it is closing its chain of 31 stores for good. Fry's Electronics, the decades-old superstore chain with locations in nine American states, has gone defunct. No Microcenters within hundreds of miles of me. Its hidden in a little office strip block on the corner, pay attention to the signs. You could always find better deals online and didnt have to drive a long way. Lets use this thread to recommend said old-school supply stores, maybe itll help keep them alive! The company cited "changes in the retail industry. Addison was such a great place when we found it about 1974, when I went about 2012, I was surprised to find the aisles of parts were no longer, consumer electronics replacing it. I used to go into TO to do the rounds of all the decent stores, but since those have dwindled down to basically just this place I havent made a special trip. Weve also got a major Amazon hub, so same-day delivery is possible. Now, apparently, their floors will be barren, as well. Visited Frys once when visiting the Bay area in 2007. Learn more, Frys Electronics Has Fizzled Out Completely, Frys announced yesterday that they have closed up shop for good, the company began shifting toward a consignment model, 3D Printering: To Print Stainless, You Do Half The Work, https://northcoastsynthesis.com/news/beware-fake-parts/, 60-year-old Lashers Electronics will close at the end of 2020, https://www.mv-voice.com/morgue/2000/2000_05_05.haltek05.html, https://thesixfifty.com/these-photos-of-weirdstuff-warehouse-will-make-you-sad-the-quirky-shop-is-gone-for-good-4eecb8308851. There was most definitely a time when Mouser aint got it neither and they carried leftovers (surplus) and pulls. Very sad to see Frys go! (Micro Center still has stores outside the Bay Area.). @Chris. Both of these places started as surplus sellers way back when and continue to sell surplus, but have kept up with newer merchandise for both hobbyists and professionals. Denver/Boulder used to have a bunch of good electronics stores. [37][38][39][40] The alleged scheme was designed to defraud the company. "The Future of Retail: Fry's Electronics-part Disney, part S/M dungeon." The Reuseum in Garden City, Idaho https://www.reuseum.com/ all kinds of surplus etc. They did this with many, many items. The listing for all Fry's locations having liquidation sales provided by Hilco can be found here Those were the days! Any electronics store with a cafe/coffee shop at its centre where I could happily spend many hours browsing and purchasing Leathermans and Maglites for 1/4 of their price back home I had to be sensible with weight in the suitcase was something Ill miss. [29][30][31][32], In 2003, actors Denzel Washington, Bruce Willis, and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger sued Fry's for $10 million each for posting their images on television sets on their print ads and flyers without permission. I used to live in a small town. Please be kind and respectful to help make the comments section excellent. I made a tradition to go back every time I made it up that way. Report an issue or PM me. I bought 1,000 power MOSFETS for $35 a while back! Sadly the place closed in the early 2000s. They definitely lost their way. Im not so sad for Frys itself the world evolved and they died out, just as Frys killed off a lot of smaller local businesses. I also bought an Olympus E-10 fixed-lens digicam from them on a close-out deal. Theyre everything a Radio Shack should have been. Closed on Sunday and Monday. Not including sales gimmicks. After her direct supervisor reported the harassment to Fry's legal department, the company allegedly fired the female salesperson and fired her supervisor for standing up for her.[43]. Siderskiy, Valentin, A. Mohammed, and Vikram Kapila. Coincidentally enough, while driving near a Frys on Sunday I commented that I should go in there and buy some components to help keep them going. It had a big pegboard full of Jameco products and a policy that if they didnt have what you were looking for they would order it. I once had a salesperson take me back deep into their stock shelves to show me what all they had of something. If you are ever in Orlando, skip the park for half a day and go to SkyCraft electronics. Its filthy but full of cool electronic, mechanical, and miscellaneous surplus stuffand some occasional garbage. About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features NFL Sunday Ticket Press Copyright . 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 cash from the sale was used . Several years ago, when I lived in that area, Id also buy components from Jameco Electronics. With all the possibilities shrinking for all of us, it affects small towns first. You might say we could have collaborated online as we do now but bought our supplies local but that only really works for people who lived near something good like a Frys or a Dick Smith. Ive shopped at the Frys in Fountain Valley, CA since it opened 30 years ago. Theres a YT video about the architect that designed themed building like that. https://www.allelectronics.com/ in Van Nuys, CA is always worth a visit when Im in the area. The writing has been on the wall for Frys since last April, I would say, when reports surfaced that its San Jose store might be replaced with an office campus reports that often neglected to mention that Frys corporate headquarters also occupied the same address. Inconsistent application of the price match policy. Goodbye Fry's. Rumors began flying on Tuesday in the form of anecdotes from alleged Fry's employees, who all reported that they'd been summarily fired earlier in the day with zero notice. You-Do-It Electronics in Needham, Massachusetts used to be really good. Its a truly sad state of affairs. Dated: April 2, 2021 Frys (assignment for the benefit of creditors), LLC, in its sole and limited capacity as assignee for the benefit of creditors of Fry's Electronics, Inc. By: /s/ Michael A. Maidy A former employee tells The Verge that Samsung stopped doing business due to unpaid bills, and that Frys had eliminated most full-time roles even before the pandemic hit, in order to save money. Sometimes their staff know their stuff, sometimes they dont speak English / French well. In the 90s, locally we used to have some 5 Radio Shacks, and three independent electronics deals (Avec & Peoples were the two I visited the most). Ive had good luck getting stuff from Micah at A2D Electronics (Ottawa, ON: https://a2delectronics.ca/) in the past. The new owner of the Active-Tech chain has split up the stores to be localized under an umbrella arrangement\. [24] On February 25, 2020, Fry's announced that they would close their Anaheim location by March 2, 2020. The stores began selling (As Seen On TV) products, educational toys, solar powered projects, arduino and raspberry Pi projects as a way to atract more customers. [59], Various Fry's locations were decorated in elaborate themes. The tech superstore has been a favorite of computer enthusiasts for almost 36 years. The Egyptian store had fake columns, mummies and sarcophagi; laptops were laid out on huge stone slabs held up by statues of black panthers. Going to a Frys store is entertainment in itself; for a geek, it could be recuperative, wrote former Apple exec Jean-Louis Gasse in a 2019 blog post. Such a fun place to visit. Most store designs are theme oriented and theme. Its like a project idea factory. ", "Fry's Electronics putting warehouse in Hanford", "Fry's to close its Palo Alto doors for good in January", "Fry's Electronics stores soon to close, seeing same fate as Toys'R'Us? If a store isnt open past 5 or on weekends they are doing well enough without me considering the luxury hours, A few years ago, store opened up that I wanted to like had the right stuff on the sign, peering through the windows looked intriguing. People are quick to blame cheap stuff on the internet for killing the retail stores but where would they be without it? When a local Radio Shack went under, I went and check out its mark-downs. I think they do mailorder. That place was like a Digi-Key retail outlet; every component youd ever need, PCB making supplies, tools, test equipment, etc. Mouser is really amazing in that regard. Living in the Eastern US, I wasnt near one but went whenever I could visited the Downers Grove, IL store around Christmas 2019. Officials said this is a result of changes in the retail . Most of us never did have very many local stores to chose from and certainly dont have many now. 2020 and all its ills have claimed another stalwart among PC builders and electronics hobbyists: Frys announced yesterday that they have closed up shop for good after nearly 36 years in business both as a brick-and-mortar wonderland and an online mecca for all things electronic. Oddly, there are still some independent places using the Radio Shack banner. It was obvious that the store in Fishers, IN was on its last legs for some time. The hobby could have died completely and these stores might have gone out of business a lot sooner. Said as Id love to support local businesses and a bit quicker turn-around when all your need is this one part to finish off a project. Theyd also try to check every item against your receipt as you left, something that (unlike Costco, where you sign a members agreement) you didnt need to let them do. Why do chinese people who build our things for a cheap price matter less to us than some corporate asshole who charges more for the pleasure of having to drive hours away? Volume purchase only - 50 pcs min in any combination of items. 6 products. If it didnt work, Id take it back and *they would re-wrap it with a blue and white sticker saying it had been opened and the warranty was still good*!!! Sorry to see them go. I will miss Frys. Thy even have two working RCA tube test machines, mostly used by musicians and boat anchor ham radio owners. Would open source hardware be a thing like it is now? RIP active! Photos taken Wednesday the 3rd. [33][34], On Black Friday 2007, customers at the Renton, Washington location complained that Fry's employees were offering to let people cut in front of a long line for a fee. Bummer. https://www.mpja.com, Skycraft Parts & Surplus By using our website and services, you expressly agree to the placement of our performance, functionality and advertising cookies. lovely. There isnt ANY place less than 50 miles away that has anything. But in the case of Fry's, this transition was met by electronics manufacturers who, in the Internet-rich era of 2019, had far less incentive to put their wares unpaid onto store shelves. By the early naughts I would say it was pretty near circling the drain. Find out more about how we use your personal data in our privacy policy and cookie policy. You-Do-It definitely is: I drove past a few weeks back and they were open. It was truly a hackers emporium. (I cant figure out where to fit it, but there was also the amusing incident where a Ferrari-driving VP was found to have embezzled $65 million.). #100BestBudgetBuys (Opens in a new tab) #AllAboutEVs (Opens in a new tab) Fry's Electronics stores look like they're heading for liquidation, but the retailer, which operates eight stores in Texas, says its stores will be restocked . As the 70s progressed into the 80s, the new-school companies thrived because the people who started out in those 70s startups continued to order from their familiar sources rather than switching over to the old school distributors. That and Orvac were frequent stops on my way home from work until 2001. San Jose, Fremont, Concord, Campbell,. "Fry's mystique: timing, focus, frugalityand lots of advertising". Signs of the retailers growing challenges were seen back in 2019 when the company began shifting toward a consignment model in an attempt to cut overhead and liability. Fry's Electronics was founded by the sons of grocery magnate Charles Fry, who's family founded the Fry's Food and Drug chain. The second Sunnyvale store was designed to look like the interior of a giant computer; the walls were adorned with simulated circuit components, and the floor resembled a giant printed circuit board. Erie had Warren Radio a couple of decades back. Near Baltimore, theres only MicroCenter that I know of. A1 is where active surplus would send you if they didnt have what you needed. Excess Solutions in San Jose is supposed to be similar to HSC, nothing will replace Weird Stuff tho , Excess Solutions bought the HSC inventory and some folks from HSC work at Excess Solutions now. I start coming in looking for radio receiver parts and theyre like foxhole radio? Yes but also no, and we had a fun conversation about my latest designs. Oh, and all the 30-pin iPod docks anyone could have wanted in 2010. If you think of any, let me know in the comments below? As Tuesday wore on, the Fry's retail site flickered in and out of normal service, even letting customers buy products after KRON-4's report went live. Yet, their days were already numbeted. Historically, Circuit City and CompUSA were major competitors in the computer space, but they collapsed during the late-2000s recession, leaving Microcenter and Newegg as Fry's main competitors. [44] The company later bought e-commerce site Cyberian Outpost in November 2001, and started online sales with a different URL (Outpost.com),[45] which confused customers who did not associate the online name with the brick-and-mortar store. Among the allegations was that the company had an internal policy, identified as "the double H" or "hoops and hurdles", to delay or prevent customers from obtaining refunds. - Feb 24, 2021 5:52 am UTC. That Palo Alto store which closed? I was there last year and it was still selling mostly Radio Shack products. Its not necessarily obvious that you should go through certain doors. It was the Internet that turned things around. One anonymous report posted at The Layoff alleged that every remaining Fry's store in the US was "permanently closing tomorrow," and that statement was repeated hours later at a Fry's-related Reddit community. Help spread the word about your favorites that are still open in the comments below. Just like thousands of others in this state. I used to ride my bike to the companys Egyptian-themed, pyramid shaped store in Campbell, which abruptly closed last November. What angers me is theyd likely still be around if it werent for misguided lockdowns, thanks to Governor Hair Gel here in California. It was a beige box with some pictures of Downers Grove pioneers. Murphys Surplus in San Diego / El Cajon is amazing! Fry's Electronics was an American big-box store chain. American Consumer Goods & Food Delivery Company FF&E Liquidation - 130 Locations Throughout the United States! I live near Erie PA and like Kristina never been to a Frys since the closest was in Chicago. So, as far as these millionaires, I think you have two choices, the evil USA corporate millionaires who will tell you how to think and collect all of your private information and sell it whether you like it or not, or the communists, who do unspeakable things to people who dont think the way they are told to. Frys stores were a huge step ahead of Radio Shack, The Good Guys, CompUSA, Circuit City and even Best Buy. Stuff hasnt been restocked for a while, but it looks like the business has changed hands and is being revived. Fry's Electronics, the beloved chain known for its colorfully themed storefronts, is shutting down for good. Sign up for Verge Deals to get deals on products we've tested sent to your inbox daily. [21] On September 10, 2019, The Mercury News reported that customers were finding barren shelves in most stores, speculating that the chain was about to fold;[22] Fry's responded by stating the company was changing to a consignment model with its vendors and was not planning to close any store other than Palo Alto. We, Engadget, are part of the Yahoo family of brands. Wire, headers, connectors, hardware, enclosures, speakers, motors, tools, test equipment, radios, tubes, and tons of military surplus. Outpost had their schitt together, orders I made in 99 came smooth, cheap and troublefree, then I maybe made one purchase after the Frys buyout and was underimpressed. Tel: 352-300-3548 Fry's Superstore is your one-stop shopping destination for the most cutting-edge items on the market today. We still have American Science and Surplus in Geneva, Evanston, and Milwaukee. Staples (our computer/supply store) rarely has what I need. https://www.vakits.com. For a store with a lot of weird and much more knowledgeable staff, try A1 Surplus, on Queen West. (but Ive got Abts headquarters showroom practically around the corner). Weird Stuff in Sunnyvale was always fin to visit to, but I believe they too closed up for good a few years ago. There was a big components store in Boise in the 90s that I went to a few times, but when I went looking for 62 pin card edge connectors for a IBM/PC project they didnt have any, claimed it was because they arent standard. Online stores like NewEgg and Amazon became the new norm for me. Well, no official warning. Fry's Electronics Has Gone Out Of Business, Closing All Stores Nationwide February 24, 2021 / 7:39 AM / CBS Texas NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM/CNN) It was a move that happened suddenly,. Finally, the internet came along, and it was a natural fit for the business model of Mouser and Digi-Key. Greed is often the furthest thing from a makers mind. Fry's had in-store computer repair and custom computer building services. Lees might be the only bricks n mortar left. ", "Fry's tries to quell rumors of its demise as customers worry about empty shelves", "Fry's Electronics near Gwinnett Place Mall has closed", "Fry's Electronics in Anaheim to close March 2", "Report: Fry's Electronics going out of business, shutting down all stores", "The remaining Fry's Electronics stores are all shutting down", "Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors", "Fry's Shoppers Offered Chance to Cut in Line - For a Price", https://transition.fcc.gov/eb/Orders/2008/FCC-08-102A1.html, "Who benefits from large rebates: Manufacturer, retailer or consumer? Im clearly missing something in its comparison to a retail electronics outlet Frys. Dont forget Creatrons two stores in Toronto. Luckily we still have Orvac electronics. [53][54], Fry's Electronics aggressively tried to defend its trademark and domain names. made with genuine ax-man parts is a badge of honor sticker. "After nearly 36 years in business as the one-stop-shop and online resource for high-tech professionals across nine states and 31 stores, Frys Electronics, Inc. (Frys 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," reads a statement from Fry's. While they are primarily a mail-order house, they had a will call that would have the order ready the same day it was placed. All I can say is I am surprised how much they mark-up their price and I am happy to see them gone. I was a teenager and still in High School back in the late 90s when i first heard about these magical stores. That was a sad day indeed when they closed. I cannot agree more. The Reddit post included the allegation that one store's staffers were tasked with shipping any remaining merchandise back to suppliers during their final day at work. Ive even made sure make a pilgrimage there when I have visited since moving away. Web site is https://anatekinstruments.com/ . Many suppliers werent. Freezers, Coolers, 10x15 Walk-In Coolers & Freezers, Ovens, and Racking for Sale! Ive been fortunate enough to be able to do will call pickups at CircuitSpecialists.com in Tempe, AZ in the past, but dont know if they allow that right now. Not far from Boulder, Colorado is Sparkfun; while the walk-in ability is still not available due to COVID, once restrictions are lifted, hopefully? Theyd even do cheap hot dogs and soda (think 50 cents to $1 for both) in the parking lot, some summers when I was growing up. Mouser and Digi-Key were explicitly friendly to individuals from the start and actively courted ur-makers such as radio amateurs. 636 NW 27th Avenue, Ocala, FL 34475 One is in a truckstop in Breezewood, MD. Solarbotics (Calgary, AB: https://solarbotics.com/) has an assortment of kits, and also has the local Active Tech (https://active123.com) store in Calgary, so theres a retail presence, too.
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