Sometimes I need a part in jam and stop in there to get it and get back to the job.

Virtually no sales people (maybe 5 total in a football stadium size store), no merchandise and no customers.

Been down that road before (was in the AV bus many years ago) and have seen the demise of many, many electronic stores over the years.

Everything on display is mostly what they have and looking in the side where they used to have huge racks of backup stock - all empty.

I did some research and a lot of people think the same thing.

Actually kinda sad.

Why Frys hasn't been restocking it's stores

Fry's hanging on but for how long?

Can Frys survive Amazon?

Something I found on YouTube:



An evolution of business is the death of brick and mortar.

What's not to love about shopping at a place that distrusts its customers so much, they stop them at the door and ask to look in their bag and see their receipt?

I stopped shopping at our Fry's about two years ago. They sold me a motherboard that had been returned, and one of the pins for the CPU was bent when I opened it up and inspected it. I immediately went back to return it and they told me it was damaged and they couldn't. It turned into a circus side show for a minute and I left with my ill-advised purchase and a solemn vow to never send another cent their way. I called corporate and they told me to fuck off.

I'd say fully half the stuff in their computer section was opened and returned merchandise even then, and they weren't stocking anything deep.

I've been going to that Fry's for 10 years. It's definitely going to be shut soon. They hardly ever have stock on things I want. It's really gone downhill this year.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
What's not to love about shopping at a place that distrusts its customers so much, they stop them at the door and ask to look in their bag and see their receipt?

Sure but it doesn't seem to affect Costco's business much (they do that too)?

I couldn't tell you. I don't think I've ever been in a Costco.

The Fry's in Duluth, GA was my favorite place to go. I also loved the MicroCenter nearby and actually there was also at one time a Compusa that I loved going to. If I remember correct the Compusa closed well before Fry's showed up though.

Of them all, Fry's had a huge electronics hobby section and a massive selection of pc modding items stocked second to none and blew all other places away back when PC mods went mainstream.

Moved away from there in 2011 and went back into a Fry's but in Oxnard, CA this summer and it had tons of empty space - no idea if that was norm for that location but felt like it was in late stage retail death.

Really a shame because I loved browsing the aisles when I could and always seemed to find something to buy. It was actually one of the things I missed moving to a more rural area. They just cannot compete though with the selection and prices online - and with easy returns and a clientele that is generally more tech savvy and already accustomed to buying online I don't see how they make it

Man...that's too bad! Like you, smschulz, whenever I needed something like "right now", they were a good place to go. In the past, I've been elbow deep putting together a system and realized I needed a case fan, or a cable, or some type of wonky connector and blast to the Fry's at I-45 and the Beltway. Granted, I haven't been there in probably 18 months or more, but they always had what I needed. Now that you mention it, the last time I was in there seemed pretty void of employees that could assist in the event I had a question.

I'm sure they're another victim of internet shopping. If I can wait a day or two, I've always used Newegg, Amazon, TigerDirect, or something else similar.

We didn't have them in my part of the country, but i usually stopped in when I travelled. Darn place was like Radio Shack on 'roids.
Now with them circling the drain, there's pretty much no place left at retail to pick up those odds and bobs you want for electronics projects.

In California, your nerd score was based on how many times you’d gone to Fry’s that week/month/year. They were indispensable in the days before Amazon started selling electronic parts. We have one just down the road, 10 minutes away, but I’ve been there once or twice in the past year, and that for small appliances, not computer gear.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
What's not to love about shopping at a place that distrusts its customers so much, they stop them at the door and ask to look in their bag and see their receipt?

Their story is that they are actually checking to see that everything on the receipt is actually in the bag, that a lot of people leave some stuff at the checkout counter by accident. (Yeah, riiiight.)

I was at my local Fry's just a month or so ago and did not notice it was particularly empty, and there were quite a few employees there. They have several aisles of stuff that is advertised on late-night TV (that says "not available in stores").

flashguy

the last half dozen times I was in Frys in PDX area the staff all seemed like some kind of zomboid cretin that had trouble responding to such technical questions as "Where are your cableless mice" and "where is the replacement keyboard section", etc.

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
What's not to love about shopping at a place that distrusts its customers so much, they stop them at the door and ask to look in their bag and see their receipt?

Sure but it doesn't seem to affect Costco's business much (they do that too)?

Sam's does this as well and I've always thought it was strange. It's just a cursory glance at the receipt and what's in the cart. No way are they actually ticking off item by item. I think it's a waste of time but since these places thrive on low overhead there must be some reasoning behind this.

With all of the online options these days for electronics, I've not been in a Frys in probably 10 years.

You’d be surprised at what Costco catches at the exit door by checking receipts, cursory or otherwise.

That's terrific. I don't want to shop anyplace which assumes that I am a thief. Everyone else can do whatever they want, but I don't want to be treated that way. The two times I shopped at Fry's, I got stopped at the door both times and asked to let them see my receipt and merchandise. I told them if security could stop me before I reached my car, I might consider it. Neither time did anyone follow me. If this is such a great idea, why do almost no businesses engage in this practice?

Way back in the late 90's and early 2000's before the internet was big, Frys had some great black Friday sales, their ad was huge. Their return policy was a bit ridiculous though. I returned an electric razor and they pulled everything out of the box and scrutinized the contents like they were afraid that I had stolen a twist tie or something. It's sad to see all of these stores go away, I don't want to do all of my shopping online.

My local walmart checks bags and receipts also, in small town Iowa...

quote:

Originally posted by bossman:
My local walmart checks bags and receipts also, in small town Iowa...

You can walk right out of the store. Once you pay for your items, they’re yours, not Wal-mart’s. I’ve only encountered receipt checkers once in my life and I walked right past them without stopping.

Only club membership places like sams and Costco can stop you and check receipts.

quote:

Originally posted by PowerSurge:

quote:

Originally posted by bossman:
My local walmart checks bags and receipts also, in small town Iowa...

You can walk right out of the store. Once you pay for your items, they’re yours, not Wal-mart’s. I’ve only encountered receipt checkers once in my life and I walked right past them without stopping.

Only club membership places like sams and Costco can stop you and check receipts.

Yep, I smile and nod and keep on moving if it’s Wallymart. There’s been only once that a bag checker said something, but I don’t recall what it was because I just kept walking.

I remember in the 80s growing up in San Jose my friends dad a few houses down was an engineer and tinkerer and home build computer guy. Lots of guys in San Jose were back then. I was like 10-12 or so maybe like 86-87 we went to the Fry’s in Sunnyvale it was like whoa. Radio shack on steroids is an understatement. You could buy all the parts off the shelf to build your own computer which he did. And then spent money upgrading as technology got better. I remember all his computers never had cases. Just open so you could see the lights blink and chips and boards. Probly becuse he was upgrading relatively often.

In the 90s as an older teen and adult, pre internet we would go there for floppy disks and pc based games