In the fall of 2013, work sent me to Tempe, Arizona for a week of training. After arriving in town, one of my first stops was at the local Fry’s.
Although we didn’t have a Fry’s here in Oklahoma, I had visited a few of their other locations. Fry’s was multiple stores in one — like Best Buy, Circuit City, CompUSA and Radio Shack all under the same roof. They had a huge selection of movies, music, and A/V equipment. The computer department contained everything from completely assembled computers to parts like hard drives, memory, motherboards and cases. They had an entire aisle of electronic bits, like capacitors, wires, and adapters. They sold electronic toys. They sold appliances. They sold home security systems. They sold drones. They had a coffee shop in the middle of the story that sold lattes.
Because I was going to be in town for a full week, I ended up buying two things: a PS3 (the one that came packaged with Grand Theft Auto V) and a Raspberry Pi. I’ve never been to another brick and mortar store that sold Raspberry Pis. I arranged all the furniture in the room into a gaming lounge and invited my coworkers up to my room to play GTA5 and a bunch of old games I was able to get working on the Pi. It was a fun week.
Along with that Fry’s in Arizona, I also visited one in Vegas, one in Dallas, and another one in southern Texas — Austin, maybe. If there was any problem with the store it was that there was no such thing as a quick trip to Fry’s. The stores were so huge and I rarely went to one with a single item in mind, which led to me wandering up and down the aisles checking out everything. This also made trips to Fry’s rather expensive. I bought my Blue Yeti microphone from Fry’s on a whim.
Last year, rumors spread online that Fry’s had quit purchasing new product to sell. Pictures circulated of empty shelves. I was hoping to visit one more time, but I didn’t make it to Fry’s in 2020. I didn’t make it anywhere in 2020.
Earlier this week without any warning, Fry’s permanently closed and locked their doors. The company updated their website to state that they had “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.”
Sometimes I worry what will be left once we get COVID under control.
Frys Electronics, may you rest in peace, beside your smaller but older brother, Radio Shack.
It was a happy day when Frys opened a location less than a mile from my workplace. I really enjoyed the convenience. Prior to that opening, going to Frys was a special trip into Los Angeles, roughly an hour away. Of course, they were famous for terrible customer service and other wacky things, but my electronic enthusiast friend and I kept going because there was no other place like Frys.
However, at least in my area, Frys was dying before Covid arrived. For example, in October of 2019, I found myself in need of 6 SD cards for a project. I went to Frys because they usually have a wide selection with some on sale. But that trip I found the “SD card wall” almost completely wiped out. They had a total of 3 cards that would be appropriate. Aside from those, there were a few 512GB and 256GB cards with an expected huge price tag. To the great horror of the salesman, I took the last three. I suppose he was anticipating more dissatisfied customers.
When I asked about the empty shelves on multiple occasions, none of the employees had any answers that made sense. It seems like HQ was keeping them in the dark. I guess Amazon and AliExpress did most of the damage, and Ms. Covid finished the deed.
I guess we will never see the likes of Frys again, but we can look back on the good, the silly, and sometimes frustrating aspects of Frys.
Feels like a family member just died.
Fry’s was an experience not a shopping trip.
I used to go to Fry’s in the San Francisco bay area. From the moment you arrived in the packed, too small parking lot and saw a stream of people coming out with computer gear and new big screens, you knew this place was special. And it was. Dark interiors and crowded aisles piled high with who knew what delights? Being stopped for moment in a random aisle while somebody stared at the shelves looking for something could lead you to a whole new hobby. ‘…that looks cool, what could I do with that?!”
Need ethernet crimpers but weren’t sure if you wanted ratcheted or smooth closing? Go to Fry’s pick one up and give it a squeeze. Want to see the newest mobo’s? They had ’em. Come up a breadboard short on a project? There they were? RAM? yup that too, all types all sizes, you could get the right one first time. Just how does that case actually look? Hmm cheaper sheet metal than I thought, I’ll take this one, instead. Oh, and while I’m here, another spool of cat 5 and some ends (they’re on sale!), never know when you’ll need them and you can’t have too many…
It was Tom Swift’s hobby store, a place that made you think you could be MacGyver; a nerd Santa’s workshop at a North Pole near you. Now it’s gone.
Progress may be a reflection of efficiency, but it’s not always better.
They had the most incredible magazine section (here in Dallas at least) – larger than any bookstore. Over the years it shrank – first from two sides of an aisle down to only one, then part of an aisle, and so on. I don’t know if that was in conjunction with the rest of their stock shrinking or due to the decline of magazines in general…
And then every Friday they had a multi page ad in the newspaper, taking up a full section about the size of the Sunday comics.
When I worked on the road to Houston I had my extra car at the Hotel where we stayed. I would venture out at least once a month the the Fry’s in Webster. It was NASA themed. Like you said, it had just about everything, if it used, made, or took some sort of power they had it. I also got my first Raspberry Pi at Fry’s and did the same thing at the hotel room we stayed at, put it together to run Emulation Station, and all the arcade stuff. I kept all the parts and pieces in the trunk of my car, and always looked forward to grabbing that bag and bringing up to my room. I can’t tell you how much time I would spend there in Fry’s. Even other guys I worked with enjoyed our “trek” down there. Granted, their prices were higher then what you could find online, but at least you were able to touch, feel, and “see” it to see if it was what you needed. Went to the one in Austin once, but was not impressed. So, just like Radio Shack, Fry’s is no more. Too bad.