Abandoned - Fry's Electronics
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- Опубликовано: 2 июн 2024
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For over 35 years, Fry's Electronics have been a staple in consumer electronic shopping, especially in California. With a localized, national reach as well, the company slowly grew into a quirky, big box electronic store chain which also sold apparel and food. All contained within their themed, massive stores. But in recent years, customers dwindled and those who did stick around noticed empty shelves. Suspicions of company trouble were proven correct as in 2021, the company announced they would be shutting down, leaving a several stores abandoned in their wake.
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As a former Fry's employee, I can assure you it wasn't online shopping or the pandemic that killed Frys. Upper management was completely incompetent, and they seemingly refused reinvest in their business. They also treated their employees like garbage.
A successful business often encourages ossification in upper management because they become averse to risk. Declining management ability is masked by profits generated by legacy policies, and in the absence of serious competition this can go on for years. When a genuine challenge appears, like online shopping or the pandemic, management has no idea how to deal with it. In an attempt to slow the decline of profits, they reduce costs by progressively dismembering the business, and ultimately operations become impractical.
I'd say the majority of the sales people at the Fremont location deserved being treated badly, but I still miss my store
As a former employee myself, you hit the nail on the head. The cult like atmosphere was a little too much for me. At one point we had Fry’s daughter working at hour location. She was basically there to spy on the managers working at the store. No joke, she had the worst poker face. She would mess something up on the computer and then step back and watch everything they did. It was so bizarre.
All of this
@@FilmAcolyteReturns Lol, the worst poker face! 😀😀😀😀
The Fry’s location in south east Houston (close to Kemah and Houston Space center) was space themed and left abandoned for a little over a year. Now, Axiom Space, a private space company local to Houston, is moving their engineering offices in there. As part of the deal, they stated that "the space theming, which includes a full scale mock-up of the ISS inside, is a great match for us". After all, they are building private modules that will connect to ISS. Pretty cool…
That's a level of convenience that doesn't happen often!
South East Houston, it’s in Webster!
That's amazing to hear. I went to the store many times, and a friend used to work there.
I wanted to see that Fry’s location in the video ☹️ I visited it twice maybe and it even had that space station themed cafe inside. I think it might’ve been older than me but it always seemed iconic to spot off the side on i45
That is awesome! It will live on!One day when the world has ended ill visit and remember my youth!😆
I miss those old weird Frys stores. Probably the only place you could buy a computer, oscilloscope, and a hotdog 😀
Then there’s Costco where you can buy caskets a piano, condoms, steak, a boat, diapers and life insurance. 😆
I don't miss them at all. Good riddance. In the 1990s and early 2000s, they dominated the computer retail space, put many other retailers out of business, and then became arrogant because of their success. This was their karma.
The last time I went to a Fry's was to buy some solder around the pandemic. The shelves were almost empty. Had to order my solder though E bay.
Sitting in those old 50’s cars turned into seats and looking up at invading aliens was fun
Now called 'Sams club'. ;)
When my Dad heard that Fry's Electronics was going out of business, he and I went to the one in the thumbnail near Burbank and ate lunch in the empty parking lot. I miss this place!
that’s one way to end it all of - by: mico!
My dad would take me to the Burbank Fry's too. I got my GameCube there and video games over the years.
@Gator I would take my daughter there to buy games and PC parts. It was definitely my favorite electronics store.
I miss the daily codes ... I had some amazing deals. I use to get free American flags and cheap hot dogs July 4.
I loved that Frys. My main one that i went to was the Woodland Hills one but the Burbank one was so nice too! Miss them so much.
The best thing about Fry's was how easy it was to get answers to technical questions about the product you were looking at. Just ask the customer standing next to you in the store, for an in-depth 5-minute explanation. Just don't ask an employee.
Hahaha true story, I remember seeing that every time I would shop there. You could literally make friends there
I used to work at frys and most of us didn't know what most of the product was about
the Frys i used to go to had several highly knowlageable employees.
The few who didnt know much worked the front end (cash registers, and returns)... or they worked the Bistro.
Basically the guys on the floor knew thier shit.
It might of had something to do with the work shops. Most the floor guys also took turns teaching the work shops.
That is sadly true ... MicroCenter has considerably better trained employees that actually do know something. Many of the customers going to Fry's (like myself) were in technology field (software engineer) and we knew what we wanted, we certainly didn't want an employee following us around who didn't understand RAM memory timing and what CL means ... sorry "it's faster so costs more" just doesn't cut it.
I would often get dirty looks from the Frys Sales rep because I would steer people away from the obvious "push to sell item" to what was actually the better product for the person.
Fry's used to be awesome 15 years ago. Like a mix of bookstore, bestbuy, radio shack, and PC supply store all in one.
Damn. We're never gonna get any more weird/fun/quirky stores again, huh? Everything is so bland and corporate now so if shit falls through the building can be sold faster. I miss quirky and fun stores like Fry's. Or even just how Target and Walmart used to look..
i drove by a mcdonalds and it used tp be fun colorful funky and now they all look like dentist offices :( everything looks so ugly and has no happiness involved in the design process
@@princessbabyboo McD did the redesign deliberately to look more "classy", in a way to justify that what they sell has become way overpriced for burgers that keep shrinking in size
@@princessbabyboo Same with any new or remodeled Taco Bell. Gone are the quirky decorations, the pseudo-adobe storefronts, the cutouts for a bell, instead we have black-and-grey rectangles with a clean purple font choice.
@gothtarrare I really miss the quirky stores as well 😢😢 I also really miss blockbuster or the smiths grocery store in Kingman Arizona had a video store in it, it was so freaking fun and awesome to be able to go rent a movie or video game. Life used to be so much more fun,but then! Then! The internet started coming into full swing, I'm grateful for the internet but it killed so much of the old fun ways to watch movies and play video games. I'm so very grateful for Best Buy you are still able to get the old nostalgic feeling.
Y'all are the ones who didn't support the "fun/quirky" stuff lmao
There was a guy named Billy that handled all of Fry's social media in its last few years of existence. That was no easy feat as passionate and loyal customers were using social media to show their frustration over Fry's that Billy had no control over. If Billy ever read this.... I just want to say that you did an amazing job.
I felt so bad for that Billy guy. He did a good job staying positive. Like some others of Fry's employees toward the end. I tried to be positive when I went to Fry's the last year they were open. Service was still mostly good even though it was close to a ghost town.
@@aetheling1 yea I remember going there to buy ram for my computer and man there was no one except for me.
@@JDNGAMERGod, I remember going to Fry’s with a friend of mine in 2020
And being shocked how empty it was.
I used to work at Fry's a few years ago! We all saw the franchise crumbling years before it did. Management was prioritizing commission over everything. How it worked was you got more commission for the used electronics, so what my manager at the time would do was open brand new laptops and slap " Open Box " ( used ) stickers on them to give the customers a discount but the main reason was that commission was 10x more than if you were to sell it " new ". This method of sales was then passed onto all the employees for the next years moving forward until the end of Frys.
EDIT: Thanks for all the likes! I was at the San Jose location ( Mayan Theme ), watching this video was a huge walk down memory lane, met a lot of great friends and made a lot memories.
That sounds like an insanely flawed implementation of commission but it makes sense when looking at it through the scope of trying to compete with the bigger and more recognizable best buy brand
Yup, sounds about right to the kind of fraud going on.
When I was working at the Irving Texas location, we got the sudden announcement that our Associate Purchasing was changing. Turned out that A/V employees at the Dallas store were buying the refurbished headphones at 90 points of margin (AP used to drop the value of an item to 20 points of margin), and reselling those headphones to customer $10- $20 less than Fry's prices.
Naturally, HO got POed and had everyone involved fired on the spot.
Working in games, we were forced to meet warranty quotas on our console sales, even though it was way too expensive for people. Jobs were on the line. Ultimately, management decided with the release of the PS4 and the XBOne that no one could buy the console without a warranty. HO got pissed as well once they found out, but what could they expect, they gave us impossible to reach quotas. Who wants to spend half the price of a console on a warranty?
Did you work at the Burbank location? That's where I was
Man, that’s the opposite of our D2 Manager who would hover over me in returns and try to make everything being returned that was from his department look as new as possible to avoid the OB sticker, haha.
Damn, dunno what penalties came with the "open box" sticker you mention, but if none then heck I would have loved that. I already buy stuff used often enough, let alone when it's literally new but pretend to be used.
Once I lucked out on a PSP 2000 I bought on-line as "untested, parts only", for like 1/4 or less of the value of a working one, about 4 years ago or so. The thing was in pristine condition, no deep scratches anywhere and almost no light ones either. As if it was never used, and guess what, perfect working condition.
The last few times I was in a Fry’s was a really dystopian experience. It was like a warehouse-seized dollar store with random merchandise that had fallen off a truck. Super sad that it’s gone though because the heyday was amazing.
Really amazing to visit it from when they were stocked to when they had lost 60% of items that actually sold there and just seeing all the as seen on tv sit there
Actually the Fry’s south of Portland Oregon was kind of always like that, it had started as an Incredible Universe. Yes the amount of merchandise dropped off as they were struggling, but the store was always just a huge dark box with no “theme”, and always frustratingly disorganized (for instance you could find different brands of HDMI cables in two or three different places in the store). Returning things was always a big hassle. The store is still there sitting empty and not looking any different than when it was an Incredible Universe. Even though I used to go there a lot for tech shopping, I don’t really miss it.
@@Sashazur I kinda do, I used to live in Wilsonville. Went there several times over the years. I even interviewed an executive there once for a high school project about CRT TVs.
sounds like a liquidation store?
At least we still have BestBuy. In fact I think BestBuy is still doing pretty good these days especially my local one. They have a full parking lot 24/7. Ordered some headphones from them and their delivery service delivered them for me in the snow.
Worked at the one in GA. they refused to update their POS system and taking a check was like a 5 minute process. And getting around the interface was anything but intuitive. Plus they refused to be forward thinking in their business practices. People assumed we were going out of buisness for years before it actually happened due to the empty shelves, way before covid. It felt like it was run like a disorganized mom and pop shop rather then a massive tech store.
I think there was one in Alpharetta while I was there back in 2009
@@elizabethmyers9517 yep Alpharetta and Duluth
Yup, you literally had to Call the Bank by Phone and ask for available funds!
I loved going to Fry's ( electronics). It was a bit of drive, but was always worth it. More electronic stuff than you knew was possible. Their stores dwarfed places like Best Buy and Circuit City. I remember the first time I took my husband to one he fell in love immediately! Sad to see this chain went the way of the dodo. :(
me too! my dad used to take me when i was younger, and it was well worth the drive :,)
I always think of the pilgrimage that my friends would take in the 80s to visit the Sunnyvale Fry's (The one shown at the 2:14 mark) to pick up parts for their latest project, along with a bag of Oreos just for good measure.
There was only so many things that could be found at other nearby electronics hobby stores as opposed to a Fry's.
Micro Center is still alive! It has 20 places around the US and is honestly so much better than Newegg and even Amazon. If you love electronics retail stores, don't let Micro Center die too.
I feel no sympathy for them. Just because they had oodles of electronics cheaper than everyone else doesn't make them even second best. Their customer service was totally nonexistent. The returns line was always always longer than the actual purchase line. Their movie DVD selection was overpriced. I sometimes went to see the video game accessories but ironically, GameStop had better selections for only a few bucks more. And to top it all off, I spent a grand total of barely $50 in my whole life at Frys. There wasn't anything great to buy that couldn't be found at other brick-and-mortar stores for a little bit more. The looooong drive resulted in the fuel savings at rival stores making up for the price difference!
@@fireemblemaddict128 Heard about Micro Center, but just hasn't expanded to as many states yet. I imagine as Frys and soon Best Buy dies, perhaps they'll look to fill the gaps.
Really going to miss Fry's, it was a huge candy store for electronic geeks. Sad to see it go.
Yes man sad 😢
Thank God for Micro Center
What I LOVED about Fry's, was the fact that no matter what you were looking to buy, you had literally dozens of choices, and could pick what best suited you, unlike Best Buy or Office Depot, or anybody else, for that matter.
This is exactly what made Frys Electronics great. You could find anything you were looking for. You could browse for hours, at all of the other stuff you didn't even know existed.
Having huge numbers of choices is great for a bookstore or a record shop[ in which most of the merchandise is comparatively cheap, but almost anywhere else it gets confusing.
Fry’s was so awesome, I loved that place it was like a play ground for smart people
Micro Center is still kicking! If you love brick-n-mortar, don't let Micro Center die too. Its prices are great and is kind of the best now, tbh.
except the employees. they didnt know crap
I loved the LA ones so much. Going with friends and taking in the themes and taking pics next to stuff, having lunch at the cafe, browsing the expansive as-seen-on-tv aisle and the vinyl music library, staring at the endless knick-knacks wading through the checkout line. Of course we weren't going there just to have fun, there was always something to buy, and Fry's had it.
It wasn't just about the shopping, it was the experience. And now we can thank Amazon and the like for killing that off.
Never will never be a Frys again. It was an experience and atmosphere not found anywhere.
We visited a Fry's on vacation once and I was absolutely blown away by the amount of stuff they had in there. The best way I could describe it was a computer bazaar. I always wanted them to build one close to me.
It was like a "run down" version of micro center
If they are closed down what store was used in NOPE?
@@danquaylesitsspeltpotatoe8307 My understanding is that NOPE was shot at the Burbank store after the chain closed.
@@danquaylesitsspeltpotatoe8307 it was filmed before it actually closed.
Fry's was sort of the 'last man standing' for the generation of nuts-and-bolts tech. Basically was a blend of Radio Shack and Best Buy. Loved it during the 2000's for buying bare bones components for all things tech (especially computers and networking and home theatre). Frequently shopped at the one in Alpharetta GA (metro ATL).
Same, until Amazon came about if you need a network cable or other random computer parts Frys was the goto place. As the prices were reasonable, like $1 a foot for ethernet vs $5 a foot or more as Best Buy.
@@Teampegleg Microcenter. in more states than Fry's was in more varied locations throughout the US, but they have fewer locations than Fry's did. They're also smaller stores than Fry's, but plenty large enough. Also, they're known for their excellent return policy and customer support so big difference from Fry's there.
@@startedtech my nearest microcenter is an hour away 🥲
You’re forgetting MICRO CENTER
I did not care for the Fry's salesman selling me a "gaming computer" and failing to mention to me it didn't come with a graphic card. I had told him I'm not tech savvy and needed help getting a computer with powerful specs. I used the Fry's tech staff (maybe they were called Geek Squad, I can't remember) to install a graphics card they chose into the computer but they said they had no idea what hardware would be compatible with that computer that Fry's sold me, and that computer ended up blue screening every day for a year. I was so much happier to buy computers online because I would have thousands of reviews to inform my decision so I wouldn't get trapped like Fry's had done to me before.
I miss Fry's. Miss being able to go there and buy literally EVERYTHING I needed. Cables, PC parts for builds, DJI drones, I mean everything. They had 100×'s more than shitty Best Buy. Then just like that... they were gone. Very sad day as I loved physically shopping instead of online shopping.
and Best Buy drags on..(without my support)
@@SegoMan yes...yes they do :/
I was briefly an employee of Fry's Electronics in the early 90s. My experience as an employee was entirely negative. In my opinion, ALL employees were assumed to be thieves and, in my opinion, we were abusively treated as such despite having done nothing wrong. I was never treated so badly by any employer. Fry's Electronics gone - I say GOOD RIDDANCE!
Unfortunately most theft at retail was by employees, including the security employees at Fry's. That and people that would fill a cart and then run out the store to a waiting car.
As a customer and employee I cannot say good riddance to the stores but I sure can, as both, the management.
@@ethelredhardrede1838 I have seen for myself the abuse of the poorly trained incompetent security personnell at Fry's and they were often the ones to be arrested by police. The gross disrespect and, in my opinion, grossly illegal abuse inflicted on Fry's employess came from the top down. Therfore, I again say; "GOOD RIDDANCE!"
@@KevinAdams-zr6bz
Kevin, I know the guy in the video, well I knew him. He was quite polite considering he refused to stopped shooting video.
I looked to see if I could be seen in the video, nope. I worked in the software dept. That video was take shortly before the store closed and we ripped out most of the decoration.
@@KevinAdams-zr6bz
All the theme stuff, besides the large shuttle at the back was supposed to have been sent to Texas to go with the space station theme.
@@KevinAdams-zr6bz
I do know that at least one security person was fired for theft. He allegedly was stealing laptops that were there for repair. That was long before the end.
It's so awesome to see Frys getting love again from the movie NOPE and this video. Thank you for bringing all these photos. It's actually pretty rare to see photos and video from inside the stores. I may have spent $500,000 there over the course of two decades! It was one of my three reasons to stay in the bay area.
A couple points to add:
1) There was no mention or photos of the Las Vegas Nevada Fry's that looked like a giant slot machine. (I'm wondering if it was the last one that opened)
2) Near the end they were moving toward a consignment only model. They were requiring that companies that sold their goods would not get paid until they sold. Most companies declined, leading to bare shelves. They were bare for about 2 years. I stopped going often since it was just plain depressing. It was like watching your loved ones decline in old age.
3) In the Bay Area where they started, they did NOT do liquidation sales. They were open one day and closed the next. I'm not sure about other states, but here it was just done overnight. Even the employees did not know until the last second. I nearly went on the last day by chance but was too tired. I wish they had announced the last day. The crowds would have been massive just to say goodbye.
4) Fry's online experience was the worst on the internet. You would do a search and the part you wanted wouldn't show up. It was near unusable. Or they'd sell you something, and then send you a notice that it was not in stock later. Or you'd find out when you went to pick it up at the store. This was AFTER you'd paid online and had to get refunded.
5) Their customer support was world renown bad. But the true faithful didn't care. It was just part of the Fry's experience.
6) The Sunnyvale location quite often would have taxis dropping off tourists from around the world. It was truly a destination for some. (And this wasn't even the coolest theme'd store)
7) Fry's may have been the first store to do ONE line for all the registers. It was fantastic.
8) They didn't just sell electronics, it was amazing the variety and oddities they had for sale. It was way better than Best Buy ever hoped to be.
FYI, the bay area stores were shut down long before Fry's announced their liquidations. Additionally, Fry's did not own the land those buildings sat on, so they were heavily inclined to end the lease asap.
Fry's sold their home office a year prior because a redevelopment company offered them good money for the land the building sat on.
The stores that were all open for the final year were locations where Fry's owned the land rights the buildings sat on.
This is a great response, and thank you for the years of support! The Las Vegas store was not the last to open, that one opened in 2002. It's true, with the exception of a few stores which closed earlier, the vast majority all closed on the very same day. There were indeed no liquidation sales before the final date open. All stores did sell fixtures and assets in a liquidation style after the official retail closure date. I won't comment on the consignment model other than to say it wasn't a bright idea that was implemented to try something new or fun but rather something out of necessity. Yes, Fry's was indeed the originator of the single checkout line which fed into multiple registers in a retail format semicolon and we were copied time and time again in the 2000s!
Believe it or not, the Campbell store actually had decent customer service...must have been the location.
At 6:09 in the video the Vegas store is shown and mentioned very briefly.
@@jimrapp6955 yup, I blinked and missed it.
My local Fry’s was astronaut-themed. There were space stations hanging from the ceiling, a 20 foot space shuttle that kids could play inside, and other immersive theming. They closed a couple years back and are now an Amazon Fulfillment center.
That' was my local Fry's also. I regret not offering to buy that metallic looking astronaut statue that greeted everybody in the entrance. I wonder what happened to some of that awesome decor.
Anaheim. I worked there back in 2005. It was not closed long before Amazon took it over.
ANAHEIIIIIIIIM!!
My son, husband and I went there often in the 2000’s. DVD’s and games and computers. He is 35 now with kids of his own. Good memories. ANaheim,CA.
Our old Fry's in Anaheim was also astronaut themed. It also became an Amazon fulfilment center. It sits between a Kaiser hospital and a bowling alley.
I loved the Sci Fi Fry's in Burbank. They always had what I needed and I loved the decorations, but I admit the last time I went was something like 2004. At that time, the shelves were full and I can't say that the staff was any less knowledgeable than (at the time) Best Buy, Good Guys, or other similar stores.
Now we can to drive all the way to Tustin to visit Micro Center
Loved going there as a kid simply because of the statues except that octopus one, that used to freak me out as a kid
I miss these stores so much. Most of the memories I got to make with my dad were in these stores. The real craptastic this is, I know what truly brought them down was the middle/ upper management (store/regional level).
I will remember picking out the parts and building computers with my dad. It will stay a fond memory.
They had any computer part/component that anyone needed or want it.
I miss Fry's honestly. I remember when I was younger, my dad would always take me there with him and we would just look at the kind of weird stuff they'd be selling. I always found it neat how they decorated the ceiling with walkways with workers walking on top of them and all.
Me and my dad would go all the time too.
The one in Irving,Texas used to have a coffe store. I enjoyed, shopping and sitting in the coffee shop sipping on a latte and eating a sandwhich..But,not sure why some customers gave some ugly reviews. Frys, had good deals, and lots of electroinics and quality that you could not find any where else,,not even on best buy. Anyways...damn i miss FRYS.
Me too, and I used to work for one. I was pretty miserable until I got out of Retail altogher. I still enjoyed being able to pick up motherboard, cpu, furby, sandwiches, some rca cables, and more in one go.
WAS THAT THE OIL THEMED ONE IN 45N AND WEST AT HOUSTON?
The best reason to go to fry’s is not to shop
The decline and fall of Fry's Electronics was very bittersweet for me. Being just shy of 60 myself, I was one of those "older customers" that kept returning... until they slowly ceased to have anything for me as the shelves got emptier and emptier. Sometime around 2015 I just didn't bother with them anymore when I was looking for electronics and components.
But I was one of those who shopped at the original store on Oakmead, for the short time it was there. A few friends and I - all tech workers and hobbyists - went the weekend after they first opened, and immediately fell in love with the place. No "theming" at that time or location; just piles of electronics and components we could rummage through and lust over. There really wasn't anything like it in the Valley; the closest was the used electronics shops of Halted/Haltek just up the expressway. next best was probably Quement, but they were much more "ham radio" oriented.
Plus, my folks had shopped at Fry's grocery store when I was younger, and while that particular location had closed, seeing the name live on in the electronics store gave me a bit of pleasure at the whole venture as well. Now, as noted, I live in Arizona... and my heart lept when I first caught sight of a "modern" Fry's grocery store.
The "Fry's" branding and logo will always be nostalgic to me, and living as a young techie in "Silicon Valley 1.0".
Is there anyway we oldies can go back to "Silcon Valley 1.0" the one where censorship was frowned upon, where "Big Tech" didn't have so much control over our lives and where WE OWNED WHAT WE BOUGHT and could fix It or do what we wanted to ot????
Thank you for sharing your story, it made me smile even though I have no connection to Fry's apart from hearing about it. Because while I live in LA now, I came from Virginia. I just love hearing firdt hand accounts of things that no longer exist.
Haltek and Halted were two completely different operations.
Halted was in Santa Clara, just off Central Expressway. Haltek was in Mountain View, a few blocks from the Bayshore.
I too used to buy a lot of electronics components at my nearby Frys. Arduino boards and electronics components for breadboarding and whatnot. But also around that same time... 2015... the shelves just started emptying. I remember there was a particular guage of wire that I needed, and I needed it in a particular color. And they just never restocked this stuff. It became a lost cause to even waste time driving the mile and half distance to see if anything changed. It was like they just stopped stocking their shelves. I would have continued to spend money there if they had continued to invest in their stores. I loved that place. I can't tell you how many thousands of dollars I spent there over the years.
Does anyone remember those annoying door Nazis at the exits? I just ignored them every time. Nobody ever chased me down, but if they did, I'd ignore them too
I miss Fry’s, you could look at and compare things, which is harder to do online with electronics parts. I built a computer with everything I bought from the Manhattan Beach store which I think was the one at 8:28. Fortunately there is still a great local parts store nearby.
My father was a computer repairman and I remember many times going into fry's in the early 2000s as a kid and the occasional time in the lat 2010 for my own parts with him. To me the saddest thing is watching this video and seeing the 3 or so Texas locations I went to and know they aren't there anymore.
I worked for the Downer's Grove Fry's from 2015-2016. Every single employee was severely underpaid, overworked, and was expected to follow a massively outdated and creepy sales model. We were encouraged to follow customers around to ask what they needed I quote from one of the training manuals I had in a box, "A great way to greet a customer by name is to get their name from their credit card transaction". Employees in the AV department (TV's and stereos and home theaters) were 100% on commission. if you did not make your minimum sales, you were put on a stipend equivalent to minimum wage, with the expectation that if you did not get off of it within a week or two, you would be fired. Employees in Computers (pre-builts, Mac's, monitors, printers etc.) were 100% on commission as well. Components (processors, hard drives pc parts, hobby parts) were not. Toys/Electronics were also on commission. Cashiers received commission equivalent to 1% of whatever goes through your till, daily.
Management at that store was absolute festering garbage. The favored tactic was to make sure they caught you "stealing time" by clocking in early for your shift on days that required the extra help, while asking you to do your job without pay if you were in the building. You got three write ups, then you were fired. One of the store's upper management was supposedly sleeping with a department head, and there was rumors of department sales numbers not being reported correctly. Returns were to the point that if you did not have a 100% readable after being run through a scanner receipt, you would be denied. the internet "price matching" was done via UPC or via model number lookup. If the upc/model from an online source did not match EXACTLY what was on file, it was denied.
My personal favorite thing to talk about is the fact that the till software, and all financial software was from the DOS era. Black screens, text boxes and no mouse input, being run in emulation on cheap windows 7 workstations. Fry's also had refused to update to the chip compatible card readers, and was "eating" the fine from those weekly.
The employees were the best and worst part of working for Fry's. You had nerds, as far as the eye could see. Hobbyists, gamers, DIY'ers everyone. You commonly had people talking about the latest anime or manga in the cafe on break, or their anticipated music or movies coming out. The flip side to all of this was the commissioned workers. They were always stressed to the point to people crying on break. Always super hungry to make a sale, because they either had to, or be fired after they got their check.
All of this being said, the Downers Grove Fry's got the short end of the stick as far as decoration goes. The store's main "feature" was the marble floors that they had imported from Italy, and the "stately" columns they had in the store. The decorations were officially listed the historic black and white photographs of the Downer family which were on large format prints on special mounts around the store, for whom that town was named. There was no theming, nothing special. It was a square building, with rectangle isles and the decor did nothing to help that.
The one lasting impression that I remember after stopping in around 2019 was how bare everything was, and how much of the store was being devoted to "As seen on TV" or actual "knockoff" stuff like rip off perfumes and colognes. They also still had a fully stocked "adult media" section all the way towards the end of the store's run.
Nearing the end (2019-ish) they were constantly told that stock was arriving, and stuff would be on shelves soon. The last paycheck was mailed. They gave zero warning about the store closing, employees just walked up to locked doors on open one morning.
Tl;Dr, Management was garbage, I miss my friends/co-workers. Sad to see Fry's gone, but happy it has finally been put out of its misery.
Do you think NOPE captured the atmosphere of the dying days of Fry's Electronics well?
@@gyrosplater NOPE? What do you mean?
@@DreadVos In the film NOPE, there are characters in the film that work at Frys.
@@mabiniss2 ah, no clue there. I have not seen the movie
Exactly why I don't work a paycheck job I panhandle so I don't have to worry about being fired somewhere
One of the most disappointed I've ever been was bringing my cousin from out of country into a Fry's to show him my favorite store in early 2020. It was a ghost town and had nearly completely barren shelves by that point. I'll miss Fry's but at least Micro Center is still kicking
TBH I feel Micro Center still lives on due to a very small location count (Only one in California) and waaaaaay better customer service.
@@MichaelManleyNTE yup, microcenter is a haul, you go there with about the same frequency as ikea
@@pizzaivlife I'm fortunate to have a Microcenter near me - only a 15 minute drive. If it closed down I think I'd cry. Seriously.
Thank god for Micro Center too, because of them I was able to get a 3060 for MSRP in 2020.
Micro Center is great. There are two in the Chicago area, and they have carved out a reliable solid base. The stores usually seem pretty busy most weeknights and weekends, and I think they try to work with small businesses.
I was there during their grand opening in May of 85. It was more geared towards the electronics manufacturing industry that surrounded that store to start. It was exciting watching it grow and change.
The writing on the walls started to become visible many years before the pandemic with the scandals, the lack of the deals they used to be known for, and selling of odd things, such as collogne and perfume.
My father and I stopped at the Irving, TX store a month or two before the close down and it was just sad state of affairs. I decided to buy something (a keyboard), cause I knew it was probably the last time I'd be there.
I did an analysis of Frys when they were starting to struggle(that was part of my job) and the biggest problem we uncovered was their terrible sense of how and where and when to buy real estate and build stores. It was a weakness that wasnt really a problem when they were the biggest electronic retail outlet and the internet was not a major player yet. But it became a BIG problem when something could be ordered online and delivered to the home for the same or even slightly higher pricing. How each store was managed was erratic, and that suggests poor corporate control and managerial hiring. But really, they would pick the correct city or town to place a Fry's, and then choose a shitty, inconvenient, part of that city because the real estate deal was a little bit better, then they would negotiate themselves a shitty deal on a piece of land that should have been a steal.
Cuz we did EVERYTHING in house. like we knew the best..... Dumb
Man, this video gave me STRONG nostalgia. That Fry's in San Jose was my go to spot and I would always admire the rock formations it had. Sad to see it go honestly.
I went to the one in palo alto and loved the western themed
I still remember my one and only visit to Fry’s like it was yesterday. The main thing that struck me was the size of the place. Wouldn’t see something that big until I visited Nebraska Furniture Mart.
I’ve never been to a fry’s but i live close to Nebraska Furniture Mart, and yeah, it is actually the largest store in the US
Fry's was like Noah's ark... you had to buy 2 of everything because 1 wouldn't work.
I love that you are a fan of the Titanic. I am also a fan :)
Only place I can remember seeing as big with selection is Abt in Chicago
my cousins live in dfw, and im always blown away by the size of nebraska furniture whenever i drive past
I was a child the first time I went to Fry's in Burbank. The one with the UFO crash landing. I bought the Dazzle DVC100 capture card back in 2009, I bought cameras. I loved Fry's
This is another sad episode to see. Frys always had so much charm and back in the early 2000s my parents would buy stuff from there so I had a really nostalgic veiw of it. I recently visited one of their stores in late 2020 and saw how much it had decided and now too see it abandoned is just a sign of a by gone era
I grew up going to the Fry’s in Oregon. My family, especially my dad and I, would make day trips out of a Fry’s visit. As a little kid, it truly felt so big. I remember loving the rooms in the back where you could test out the speakers and hear movies booming in surround sound. It was an odd store to be sure, but when I found out it closed and the company was going bankrupt, it felt like it marked another piece of my childhood gone to time.
I remember one of the Fry's in the Portland area. My son loved that store.
yeah i use to go to the frys in wilsonville Oregon all the time... it was weird going in there and seeing the shelf's empty or one item stretched across the whole row.... honestly though it does not surprise me because frys was always way over priced compared to other places... going to buy PC parts you were for sure gonna be spending more... so looking back at frys now i saw this coming from years ago and honestly why i stopped shopping at frys myself... the prices were just out of control... i remember i built a PC buying parts from frys and then i built just about the same PC for a friend maybe a couple months later but we bought the parts through amazon and other sites on the internet and we ended up saving almost 500 dollars because everything was cheaper at store over the internet... even places like best buy were way cheaper with some parts so i saw this coming from a mile away but it sucks though cause going into frys like you said as a kid it was amazing... i mean even growing up and as a adult it still was a amazing store.... it almost had that same affect like Toys R Us had when you walked it....
@@dirtygerty577 yup that's the Fry's we used to go to! I agree, the prices were pretty steep compared to the other places.
I remember the speaker room too!
I live in Virginia, but in 2003 I took a trip with my parents to Portland, Oregon to visit my brother. We stayed at a motel in Wilsonville, and I got to do some shopping at that Fry's store. I got me a slew of anime DVDs there, plus one CD.
Fry's was more than just a computer and consumer electronics store. It was also an enlarged version of what Radio Shack used to be back when it was a good store. Until the rot set in, Fry's was a great place to get small electronic parts, cables, and other related items. It had a good enough selection that it functioned to some degree as an industrial supply company in addition to being a consumer electronics store. It was the quickest and easiest place to get a lot of parts, saving time over the usual route of ordering items from the normal suppliers, and it was open in the evening and weekends, making it the only place to get parts that were needed in an emergency.
Sadly, Fry's and Radio Shack are gone, and nothing has come along to replace them. If I suddenly need a capacitor or a fiber patch cable, I can't just go to the nearest store and get one. I have to order it and wait for it to show up, or I have to find an industrial supply business that has very limited hours and is in an inconvenient location. It's a shame that these stores got run into the ground. They served some very specific needs that are no longer being met.
Very true. I never thought of Fry's in the same sense of thinking of Best Buy or Circuit City as just a place to buy a TV or a computer - Fry's had all the project stuff and parts to build all sorts of hobby electronics or random test projects. When I first moved to Austin, TX in the early 2000s seeing a Fry's was like having a Tiger Direct print catalog but in front of you in a giant warehouse, plus the world's biggest Radio Shack, plus a Best Buy or CompUSA all in one store. Oh, and you also could buy a vacuum cleaner and get a coffee. The whole concept was wild. I'd shop there off and on and as the years went by it got more and more dire. The prices always seemed competitive but when the shelves are empty you just find more and more of your buying done online. The closest store left I can think of today that's similar to old Fry's is Microcenter and that's more CompUSA like.
Digikey and Mouser do a good job of carrying the torch forward for electronic components.
Frys first grocery store was actually in El Sobrante on the Dam Rd. They then moved that small location 1 mile down the road and the old location became a Jack in the Box which is still standing. Frys then expanded their Grocery footprint into the north, south and east bay. Later the sons also opened operations in Texas. The Grocery stores were then transitioned into the Electronic Stores.
I remember going to the Incredible Universe on Baseline when it first opened. The parking lot was so packed that we waited to park for 15 minutes. I was 11 at the time and absolutely blown away by how large the store was. It had all the video games, from SNES, Genesis, N64, Playstation, and Dreamcast. There were so many vendors, a video game party bus, and even a McDonalds that offered FREE ice cream with any in store purchase. My friends and I would ride our bikes to this store on the weekends and walk around it like it was the mall.
In 2018, I went to revisit the same store and was shocked to see entire sections of it blocked off. Shelves were empty, not a single soul other than the workers were in there. I knew the time was coming when the store would die. It died a painfully slow death.
I used to live in Burbank and went to this location many times. During its heyday, I remember one Christmas where the line to purchase something was 30 to 40 deep of customers and they has about 30 checkers you could pay at. You couldn't find a parking space even with a giant parking lot. This Fry's in Burbank had everything! I went to this store about a hundred times. Wow do things change in a short time.
Remember going there my 1st time and was amazed how big the store was. The theme was also cool. Attack of the Martians.
My work colleagues and I were so excited when the Burbank location opened. We spent many a lunch there.
Same. I used to go there all the time!
If I’m not wrong this store 11 store manage was caught having stolen millions from Fry’s in 2005.
My dad started, ran, and sold Cyberian Outpost to Fry’s, so this was absolutely fascinating to watch. He’s particularly fond of the commercials they ran. I don’t know much about it as it happened when I was a kid, but seeing it pop up here made my day. Thanks for the excellent content as usual
Hey bb girl
@@bigzach7778 bruh you creepy af
@@Jammermaker cope
@@bigzach7778 creepy and cringe. You must pull all the bitches
@@bigzach7778 Incel
Man I grew up to the Burbank fry’s electronics store, I remember buying a few things from there and the design inside always caught my attention. It had that old school big monster theme with that 1940/1950 look in the cafeteria area, and each time I went they had a lot of stuff available. I still got some short videos of me being inside the store, good place to go at the time when things felt a little more normal back then
Same here. That was my go to place to get parts and where I learned about computers because I would spend all day looking at computer parts.
I miss Fry's Electronics. I was a young college grad working my first real job in Cupertino CA back in the nineteen eighties. Going to Fry's Electronics was like visiting nerd paradise. I could stock up on electronics and snacks at the same time. Those were the days.
I'm so sad that Fry's went out like this. I knew they'd been going downhill for a long time, but I still have fond memories of going there in the 90s and feeling like they had EVERYTHING. (My local store was tiki-themed.)
The selection was awesome in its heyday. From 2017 to its closure, the selection was laughable. They had to fill the empty shelves with As Seen On TV stuff.
Southern California (LA/OC) had
Tiki theme: Manhattan Beach store
Roman theme (complete with waterfall!): Fountain Valley store
Mechanical theme: City of Industry store
Alice in Wonderland theme: Woodland Hills
Space Shuttle theme: Anaheim
I’m sure there were a few more, those are just the ones I’m familiar with. The store in the Dallas/Ft Worth area had no theming and were all (except the old Incredible Universe store) the same generic “marble and historical pictures on the wall” theme even though all of them were the size of the Anaheim and City of Industry stores.
@@null0byte The Dallas store was themed to the Old West, and was the only one themed in the area. Plano and Irving (part of the Dallas Metroplex) where both themed after Plano and Irving History, respectively. AKA, they had giant photos on the walls with details about the history. I know from experience. On slow days, I would often just stair at them for long periods of time.
I spent an extraordinary amount of time in the Tiki themed store. I worked in the area from the mid 90's to early 2000's. I also remember finding a place where you could buy old aerospace junk as well. It was like hunting for treasure.
@@Tyneras Sacramento
Fry's was the best place to buy fairly priced PC enthusiast parts besides Newegg in the early 2000s. They also sold a bunch of weird odds and ends too, including adult films.
certainly Newegg drank their milkshake, whatever amazon had left
EB Games used to be a good place before Games top bought them.
Growing up as a computer nerd in the Bay Area, I have lots of memories going to Fry’s and staring at the walls of parts. I got to watch their slow and painful death firsthand. I miss the quirky nostalgic aura of Fry’s so much.
I feel that so much. I used to go to the Sunnyvale location all the time as a kid in the early 2000s, and it going there around 2017, it looked like a shell of it's former self.
I went to a Fry's while working in California years ago; I was overwhelmed by the magnitude of the store and its inventory. My impression was "a lot of huge overhead to manage" Someday Amazon will meet the same fate.
As an engineer, I have been to Fry’s often. Many years ago, when I discovered a second store, I enjoyed noting the themes. So I made a point to visit several Fry’s around southern California. And when I had driving trips to Washington and to Texas, made a point to stop and photograph (for my own personal fun) the many Fry’s along the way. Nice to see some of them here in this video!
I hadnt visited the one off the 405 off euclid in a while but i visited it like a year or two ago and it made me sad. All their inventory was basically gone so i knew theyd close down soon. I used love going and seeing all the new tvs and pick up some weird blu rays from there. Good times....
yea, thats what was unique about them. Until the 3rd store in sunnyvale, they went away with the computer chip theme and went to just classy...big fail!
my brother has always hanging around all day buying their computer electronics. He just buy too much of their stuff just ridiculous. The store is just over the corner feel like your next door store. can't believe it going down like that.
@BitSmythe I did the same thing, but not on purpose. When I was in Texas and Denver I discovered more Fry's stores, each one with their own theme. The one in Dallas had a cow/farm theme. I think I've been to 5 or 6 different Fry's stores in the Southwest. I miss that store already!
I shopped at Frys in the 90s and 2000s. Back then there were no other options, so I had to put up with the long lines, bad service and sleezy sales people who would add the extended warranty without even asking if I wanted it. Once newegg and other online retailers came into being, I stopped going to Frys. Adios, and I don't miss them at all. They deserved to go out of business
I worked in Woodland Hills a while back and my boss asked me to run over to Fry's to pick up a couple items. I'm not from CA and wasn't too familiar with Fry's and their themes. The only one I had been in prior wasn't very strongly themed, really only kind of acknowledging the agricultural significance of the area (something not uncommon in other businesses also). You can imagine my surprise when I walked into Woodland Hills Fry's and was dropped into Alice In Wonderland. It was the craziest thing -- I mean, what does Alice have anything to with electronics? I ended up being there for a while just looking at the store itself. I got back and my boss was wondering what took so long. I told him I had no idea what I was walking into; he just chuckled and was like "ohhhhh" and then totally understood why I was gone longer than he figured.
This was the Fry's I'd go to, I live down the street in Reseda. The motif was the best thing in the store being an Alice in Wonderland fan. At first Fry's was a cool place to go to get my DVDs they had some obscure titles but as time went by the selection of everything just dwindled down to nothing so I stopped going. But I do miss the Alice theme and the Space theme in Burbank was a blast.
I remember the Alice In Wonderland one from being a kid. Went there numerous times as a kid with my dad.
Also, did you work at the Oxnard location? That one did not have much of a theme...
I went to the Frys electronics in Phoenix Arizona and I think it was supposed to be Aztec and ancient civilization themed. I had gone when I was very young a few times with my father, and I remember they had an Earth, Wind, and Fire autograph event going on. So I got to meet them, right next to the big Cafe in the store. It was a cool store with an interesting design, but aside from that all I can remember about that place was meeting the band members and my dad teaching me about Alzheimers while we waited in line because my grandma had the disease.
I forgot to mention I now work for Frys food and drug and needless to say, it absolutely sucks balls here man.
In early 2020, before the Pandemic, I remember going to Fry's and seeing all the shelves empty. As a matter of fact, the story I went to was the store pictured multiple times at 2:50 and 7:18, a store which I had gone to many times growing up and had grown very attached to. As I entered, the shelves were nearly empty, a very odd and surreal sight especially since this was before the pandemic. I asked one of the employees what was wrong, and they said they had switched suppliers, and had simply not gotten many deliveries and weren't able to restock their shelves. To this day, I believe the biggest issue that led to the downfall of Fry's was not the pandemic, but was their mismanagement and namely, their supply chain issues. It was sad to see Fry's go last year, nothing can possibly replace this once great store
I still remember my first time walking into the Tempe Fry’s Electronics with my pops as a kid with that unique entrance scent it had and buying my first Gamecube, Super Mario Sunshine and Smash Bros Melee back in the early 2000’s.
Fun times. Even if Fry’s Electronics is gone, I’m hoping to share that same experience with my boy at least through MicroCenter or another store when he’s a little older.
MELEEEEE .. cute story that was a good time period for childhood wonder.
Reminds me of a toys r us nearby that had rows of games and demos for gamecube games like melee.
Judging games by their cover and back with no idea of what you were really gonna get was a cool feeling.
fr though that smell of late 90s electronics will never leave me
I know that location well. Can remember when it was Incredible Universe then became Fry's Electronics. Also remember all the hoops they made you jump through just to get a refund. They'd issue you a credit voucher which you would need to take up to the main check out to redeem. Thankfully they eventually did away with that and you could get a refund right at the return Golf Carts (the only store in the chain which had a Golf theme, fitting for being across the street from the Arizona Grand Resort(. Think the last time I was out there was sometime in 2016 when I bought the 27-inch LG monitors I am still using now.
Speaking for the Aztec Themed Fry's in Arizona, I remember in my teens experiencing the BOSE demo room under the display of the Aztecs carrying the electronics up the mountain. I remember building my first gaming PC from that store with a BFG 8800 GTS video card that had a whopping 512MB of video memory! I even saw the first flat panel plasma TV there which was selling for, from what I remember, an insane $16,000 at the time. Good memories.
That was an amazing place! Such a contrast to the one in Tempe, which was formerly Incredible Universe and totally plain. I built my PC from parts there as well, it was great to just run down there and grab whatever you needed at the time.
Fry's was great in having esoteric goods for sale too. They sold that HP laptop with the 20 inch screen.
Looking at google earth it looks like its still there..
@@ashleyrodriguwz2554 I live in AZ and forgot it closed down, and a week ago I drove there out of habit looking for a part for my pc. The entire parking area is fenced off and the building is boarded up but its still there.
Im in AZ also. Ive been going to that frys electronics since like 2004. I miss it man
I remember going there in early 2020 (the Tempe Arizona location) just out of pure curiosity and it was beyond sad. The place was dead and there were no workers around. It was as if it had been abandoned for months
Same. You know its dead when they sell cheap cosmetics and knockoffs
The “Wild West” store was about 5 mins from my house growing up. It was actually train themed since Roseville has a huge Union Pacific station there. One of the coolest stores IMO, and it felt special since it was based around our city’s history.
Roseville was railroad themed. Palo Alto was the Wild West store.
Fry’s was a complete game changer when it came to Houston. I was working in a small computer shop at the time (late 90’s) when Fry’s opened their first store in the city. Our regular customers were gone almost immediately. Sometimes we’d see them come in and they would make comments about how cheap they were getting components now at Fry’s and that we should have more sales. We didn’t have much of a markup from the start so there was no way we could compete and cover labor and rent. We struggled and relied mostly on our repair work but even that was drying up as PCs were getting cheaper and folks would simply upgrade rather than repair. I left the store in ‘02 and the owner ended up closing the retail shop and worked on his own doing on-site service until he passed a few years later.
Fry's was heaven for me as they carried hundreds of electronic parts..transistors...battery holders..small bulbs etc. Years ago the store in Burbank also carried electronic test gear oscilloscopes and volt meters.
I used to work at the Anaheim CA store from 2006 to 2008 in the receiving department for software. It was fun being able to see the new video games and consoles arriving at the store. A year later, I became a “coordinator”, which is a receiving assistant and also kinda like a supervisor. On weekends, I’d have to sometimes come in and receive magazines (don’t know why it was a software dependent responsibility, but whatever). It was fun while it lasted.
I live in western washington and I have so many memories of going to Fry's with my dad when I was a kid. I remember in december of 2020 I needed a bluetooth adapter for my computer so I went to Fry's and I was the only customer in the entire big-ass store which had almost completely empty shelves. It broke my heart seeing it like that.
There was a Fry's uniquely situated in Downers Grove, IL for some time, one of the few in the midwest, and I remember visiting a handful of times in the 90s and 00s. Back then it felt like Cartman going to Casa Bonita because it was such an interesting place, with unique furnishings and so many different offerings under one roof. It was almost like a department store. There wasn't anything they didn't have. Appliances, music, movies, even a book store, and I swear there was even a food court and a coffee bar back in the day.
As the decades wore on, each visit seemed a little less intriguing, and started to feel a lot like one of those "liminal space" videos of an empty Sears outlet or a retail tenant in a mall that doesn't get any more patrons. I visited there once just a few months before the closure last year and it was kind of depressing. It felt like a relic out of a former time, like they had never really innovated or remodeled the floor space.
They'd made efforts to update their home theater area because new TVs were probably their biggest sellers, but the whole place had that same liminal space vibe of one of your abandoned documentaries. I always wondered how much of an operating loss they carried to keep all that commercial space running, because their dated business model seemed woefully outgunned against online retail. And their website was incredibly stale too. They were trying to be all things to all customers, with almost no foot traffic and a scattershot marketing approach in an era where online retail had completely passed them by. I don't think it's a business model we're likely to see anymore.
I also shopped at the Fry’s in Downers Grove. It was a wonderful store when it opened, but I shopped there with friends when we would need to get electronic parts and stuff like that. I swear that their electronic components have never been restocked since they opened the store. It started to become a joke around here: we would go to fries to just see how bad it was getting and then go over to Micro Center in Westmont to actually get stuff. You’re also correct, they had a food and coffee place in the middle of the store. Anyway, Micro Center has gotten even better, removing there book section and putting in a section with 3-D printers and other makers stuff, including small electronic parts. On another front, we’re starting to lose Best Buy stores, the one in Melrose Park having closed recently.
I think the last time I visited the Fry’s in Downers Grove was in 2018. I remember the store starting to have empty shelves back then. They tried to space things out to make the store seem less empty. There was a noticeable difference between the previous time I visited the store. Even my friend made a comment about how the store seemed more empty.
Fry's Electronics was a geek safe haven in my day from the 90s-early 2000's. If Best Buy, CompUSA or Office Depot didn't have what you were looking for, Fry's Electronics had it. Hope something like them would come back.
What about MicroCenter? I've never been but a lot of peopel seem to like them.
@@teebu Love Microcenter, been to 3 of their locations. If Microcenter expands too large, we could see them disappear like Radio Shack.
@@teebu Yup... I don't live in SoCal any longer, but I used to really enjoy shopping at a MicroCenter in Tustin, CA.
Use to love 'PC Club' in Long Beach, CA. About the best we had for miles, including Best Buy.
Uh... We have Microcenter dude.
The normal routine with Christmas shopping in years past was to check the Fry's ads to see if there were any good deals. The first place to visit at a Fry's was the store ads.
It usually involved something with a rebate that required cutting a strange corner of the packing with the UPC code to prove purchase and a receipt specific to the product, like a 32gb Sandisk thumb drive for 5.00. Or, it was that Royal Sovereign hot/cold water dispenser for 59.00 that crapped out within 3 months. Never mind that Royal Sovereign is/was known for coin sorters and lamination devices, and not for a water dispenser that had to be sent back to the manufacturer for another defective one with a dent that crapped out in a month. I got that deal on the water cooler at the Palo Alto store on the Black Friday sale.
That was part of the essence of shopping at Fry's in their good times.
But, you could tell they were tight on their margins.
For all the cool designs on the stores at their grand openings, it seemed that the store's maintenance budget was a roll of duct tape. The examples that come to mind was the Fry's in Campbell (Egyptian Pyramid) had the outside moving walkway that was permanently shut within a few years of operation. What counted was that it looked great on opening day. At the same time the brass faucets in the restroom were broken within three days. The little things. Fry's was an example of illusion, until they could not hide how how badly they slipped.
I remember going to Fry's Electronics in Anaheim, California when I was a kid and on one of my last visits, I bought my first wireless Bluetooth speaker when I was there. I believe the last time I went there was between 2013 to 2015. Amazon recently bought the property and now, it's a delivery warehouse for the company. Even though Fry's Electronics is gone, I still order electronics from Amazon and it always arrives at that warehouse before being delivered to me, a grim reminder of my childhood. Thank you, Jake from Bright Sun Films for making a video about Fry's Electronics.
Fry's when I was a kid was so fun. As I grew up, you could tell it was slowly losing everything til the last time I went, they had almost nothing on the shelves and a handful of employees working. Great store that couldn't keep up with the times.
The last time I ventured into a Fry's store was probably a few months before their impending demise made the news. It was pretty sad to see half-stocked shelves all over the place. It was like the people in charge had already given up on the business.
That said, I do have fond memories of how much fun it was to browse their aisles back when they were still going strong. And I got a really good deal on 16 GB of high quality PNY Anarchy DDR3 RAM that one time.
Same thing happened here in Dallas, one day I was able to snatch a video card that was on sale and then a few years later I walk in during the pandemic and it's a ghost town with 3 TV'S left and a few cables and plugs.
i thought it would be cool to work at Fry's and .. man I was wrong..
So many memories at Fry’s electronics in Burbank as a kid. Also sad to see pecos bill bbq in Burbank gone too. All of my best childhood memories from these places will always be remembered
The biggest thing I miss from Fry's was the 5 hour checkout line on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
I don't miss the salmon run of customers when the door was opened.
Maaaan this makes me so sad. Fry's has saved me so many times up here in Oregon. One time specifically comes to mind when my motherboard decided to get lonely and just die for absolutely no reason. PC wasn't even turned on, wasn't even home, was gone all weekend for July 4th stuff. Came back and needed to edit, mobo dead. Ordering online would have taken too long, so a quick trip to Fry's then the pain of rebuilding my entire PC basically and PC fixed in a few hours.
Matter of fact, I was fond of Incredible Universe... but yeah, for awhile, Fry's served an essential function.
I was one of those youngsters who relished a visit to the Sunnyvale location back in the day. Over the years, however, I noticed just how difficult they were to deal with when you needed purchase support and especially if you ever dared try return anything. Due to this type of treatment I eventually realized it was too risky to purchase larger ticket items from them. The employees seemed completely indifferent and clearly weren't happy working there either. While Fry's is an icon that will be missed, it's demise comes as no surprise.
Was the Sunnyvale location Western saloon themed? I remember they had a big ass cowboy statue over by the computer section, would get lost in that store for hours
In San Jose it used to be the easiest place to return something but always long lines.
I hated that they would run away if you gave them a hundred dollar bill to go have it checked. I was tired of that nonsense so one day I went in with a hundred dollar bill and made a 20 dollar purchase, When the guy said Ill be right back I said "OK but leave my 100 dollar bill right here with me." He said he needed to take it to go check it. I told him to go get his check it gear and bring it over to my money. The workers seemed unhappy and I was always worried someone would switch my good money with a fake bill, return it and tell me it was no good.
The best part.-when they did come over all pissed off and just held it up to the light I took my change and checked it using a bill checker pen I had brought with me.
Foreal ! The San Jose one was Egyptian themed ! My child hood!
I remember rushing excitedly home from Fry's with all the parts needed to build a pc. Did that a couple times. Then at some point many of the parts turned out to be broken returns and what was a dream come true turned into a nightmare to avoid.
I visited a Fry's Electronics a little bit before the pandemic. It was pretty interesting. It was not one of the cool themed places but it had all kinds of stuff. However, the second time we went back there were lots of cardboard boxes in the front offices. Most of the shelves were almost empty and there was only a few employees. It's just sad.
I used to go to Fry’s decades ago, they once sold unique computers and components. But in recent years, their stores were becoming outdated and turned into more of a consignment, which killed them! I was surprised that they lasted that long, longer than Circuit City!
I loved frys back in the day. Would intentionally buy computer parts there in an effort to help keep them around. Then they stopped selling meaningful computer parts...80% of their selling space was filled with garbage consignment items. They weren't name brand, but priced like they were. I wasn't willing to pay full price for a brand I had no knowledge of.
I loved circuit city.
actually Circuit City is back lol online at least
@@M4v3rick28 I bought a lot of floppy disks and computer parts that were branded by Toshiba, Samsung, etc.
Growing up in the 90s in California I am now extremely upset nobody ever took me to a Fry’s Electronics. I had no idea they had Disney level theming. I’m shook.
Lol. I've been to Fry's numerous times and never saw anything like that.
The one we went to was just like a Costco that was filled with computer parts/accessories & electronics.
Most of the CA stores all had fancy theming.
why aren't the egalitarians and socialist "radicals" bombing ebay and amazon? hypocrites
The woodland hills store "Alice in Wonderland" theme was amazing the entire store was decorated and giant statues everywhere definitely my favorite
@@boostedmaniac i think we used to go to the one in Anaheim. I honestly don't recall it having a theme.
After having grown up in AZ and been to the Phx location a few times early-on, it was sad seeing both the Phx and Tempe locations deteriorate in my late teens/early 20s. I still remember wandering around the Aztec Temple-themed one in Phx when I was young and being so interested by the theme alone, much less feeling like a kid in a candy store (even if I was 10 or so yrs old at the time, heh)...only go back years later whenever we needed to goto an electronics store (usually the one in Tempe) and seeing the cut-down inventory, poorly managed...well, everything- and then watching it just get worse over time. _Of course, it'd be nice if Micro Center bought out the old locations out here and took up that slack...we really could use a location or two from them o.o_
Also fun fact- that Fry's Electronics at the end of S2 of Mr. Robot...isn't real- it's just the front fascia of the Phx location digitally thrown onto some completely mismatched building ._. sort of an irrelevant, stupid fact but it just stuck with me lol (even the palm trees in that scene had an uncanny valley effect...)
Fry's was the BEST. It was magical and they truly had everything, and the best black Friday sales. There's nothing that compares anymore, and best buy is straight shit. It's a shame they were so mismanaged and didn't adapt quickly enough.
Best buy truly is shit, agreed. Their prices are outrageous and their selection is terrible, always has been. I honestly don't know who shops there.
oh well now u got best buy left
at least we still got microcenter
Best Buy is easily the one I was hoping would go down first, then Circuit City, lastly FE. Why would people rather a small store like Best Buy over the massive selection at FE?
@@D_S_88 Yeah depends on what you buy. If you know how to work price match you can get things for the same price you'd pay online. Without waiting for shipping. I've never paid more for something at best buy than I would've paid online.
The reason best buy survived was for a reason. If they sold things at the price of retailers (aside from price matching) they wouldn't stay in business long. Though their PC section isn't even as overpriced as people claim it is. At least the last few best buys I went to. Most are competitive unless you buy stuff like cables, chargers, etc.
Many people shop online at best buy for components. Others price match to get stuff they need immediately vs waiting online. Others get something like a dongle and return it once the cheaper shipped version arrives. It's all about convenience. I guess that bestbuy is the convenience store of electronics.
I'm not American and I feel sad hearing this. Sounds like a fantastic aesthetic to walk into when you go shopping. I love brick and mortar stores, the feeling of walking around and feeling the product in your hands.
If the company can't be revived, I'd love to see some of these stores turn into arcades or amusement centres, it'd be a great use of the space and the entertaining image they created.
Would love to see that
When frys was fully stocked it was a fun time.
If you needed something in a pinch, you knew they have it.
I went there a year before they announced their closure. The store was practically empty inventory wise.
The writing was definitely on the wall.
Sad to see.
Well arcades and amusement centers dont last long...HOWEVER. ALL the Frys buildings are good to MAKE ANOTHER MEGA CHURCH.....jejejej...
Would be difficult to fill those stores with arcade games. They are massive. At least the ones I had been in. The Tempe location especially. I loved that place.
@@comment_deleted I still don't see why you couldn't. Could have a bowling alley, pinball, pool, some even have bars or cafes in them nowadays.
Fry's was a destination store for us, they had two in Orange County about 20 miles apart, they had 2 in San Diego about 20 mils apart, and they had ZERO in the Inland Empire, one of the largest growth areas in SO Cal. We loved going there.
I was pretty late to the Fry's game having purchased my first PC in 1994. Before that, I do remember their ads in the local paper but the nearest location at the time was in Manhattan Beach. When the Woodland Hills store opened I was amazed and thrilled with the place. The Alice in Wonderland theme was awesome.
I, like so many others, had a love-hate relationship with Fry's. On one hand, the selection of PC components was unmatched at that time. On the other, you often did not know if the component you were buying was actually new or if it had been returned before.
As time wore on, the merchandise selection dwindled and the store got more run down. The employees (as you mentioned in the film) knew less and less about product.
I am in the "older customer" camp and despite the negatives, loved Fry's until the day they shut everything down. I cannot thank you enough for this! I will always have very fond memories of Fry's.
What a nostalgic video! I'm 26 and I fondly remember as a child frequenting the San Jose Fry's location that was themed to ancient Egypt. I adored it, being a kid fascinated by ancient Egypt, and my dad took me often to get various things for his office and eventually for me when I got my first computers and game systems. I loved how big it was, how many things you could get in one place. It was super convenient and fun to walk around in, as no other place around had such intense theming. I kept going as I got older and even bought the parts for my first gaming rig there. But I do remember slowly seeing the shelves be more empty and less customers be shopping. The "escalator" they had out front had stopped working years prior, and it was a steep walk up the steps to get inside. I also remember the customer service being awful. Myself and a friend both separately took computers to their repair station to be fixed, only to have lots of problems with both, either not being able to fix it at all or taking nearly a month to do so and even then still have problems. I visited the Aztec (sorry if that's wrong) one close by as well when the Egypt one started lacking product in store. I have many fond memories of visiting Fry's with my dad, especially since he has now passed I cherish those days at Fry's. I wish I had visited other locations like the spaceship one before they closed. I last drove past the ancient Egypt Fry's about a month ago and it seems to still be sitting abandoned, no indication of anything taking its place any time soon. I hope they don't tear it down and end up keeping the unusual shaped building to put something modern inside, that would be great. Thank you for making this video about the chain! It's cool to see the insides of the other weird locations.
Not to get all pedantic, but the ancient Egypt-themed Fry's off Bascom near state route 17 was actually based in Campbell, just a short distance from the WIllow Glen neighborhood of west San Jose. Being the closest store to me, it was the go-to place for when I needed some sort of electronic part, printer ink, or PC tools. And I hear you about the shelves in the place becoming increasingly barren in the months before its closure. Although it was relatively fast, it sure felt like a slow death the store was going through before it met its final end.
Oh whoops, I meant Hamilton, not Bascom. Bascom is the next major cross street on the other side of highway 17. My apologies for the error.
My kids always loved Fry’s but we were shocked during our last visit because so many shelves were empty.
@@picklerix6162 I had a similar reaction to seeing the largely arren shelves at the Campbell Fry's several months before its closure. I even asked an employee if Fry's was having some sort of financial trouble, but he denied it. I could tell from his expression that he didn't wish to discuss it further, so I took the hint and quickly changed the subject. What, I'm gonna pester some poor soon-to-be-unemployed floor walker about the imminent demise of his workplace? Better to just let it go, you know?
This is where I got my first Xbox 360 and I love the auto play/invisible piano near the deli as kid. Also, I remember hometown buffet near El Camino was fire in 2000’s, but sadly it’s closed due to poor management and quality of food.
I miss walking around in these. It makes me really sad to know that future generations won't know that thrill of spending a whole day lurking about in that store building the perfect rig. Everything in one place, and more than you could ask for. It seems harder to find place that have this kinda wonder. I mean there is a lot to see on amazon and ebay, but it just doesn't feel the same. I felt like these stores knew how place items in ways that gave you great ideas for what you could throw together for a home or office.
Yes, a store that you could simply explore and find new things.
Micro Center
Exactly. I used to love walking around in them, finding really cool tech or building rigs.
Nothing, not ebay, not amazon, can replace that type of experience.
A store I could think of that risks the technology reach in fry's is Microcentre, but I doubt it'd be as fun to walk around in.
@@williambrown1811 And that is one big problem as well. Those stores are VERY few and very few states have them. Most of the US doesn't have any great stores like those days. It is all online now because even as far as technology has come, there are more ignorant people of tech than ever! So those stores don't do sells because most tech-minded people buy online now. It is a vicious circle.
Wow. This is blowing my mind. I was literally born and raised in the bay area - and I'm 36!!! If I had known the stores were themed I would have went to as many as I could. The one closest to my house was just a regular boxy store. It wasn't one of the themed ones. I am so annoyed
The one in Campbell had an egyptian theme inside, but it was minimal. It was really rundown when i went there in 2019
I live pretty close to the store in City of Industry, CA. I remember as a kid seeing the giant gear off the freeway and wanting to go in the store. When we finally went I was amazed by the very industrial theming which was almost steam punk. I'm sad to see the store close, but the giant gear off the freeway is still there.
Fry's closure really hit hard for me. I don't have any Fry's near me, so every time I went to one it was on vacation. And man...even when I didn't buy anything it still felt like Disneyland every time.
The best thing Fry’s ever did, in my opinion, was preserve a bunch of the former Incredible Universe locations. Some, like the one near me in Auburn, WA became other stores. But it was cool to see some preserved as electronic stores, just as they were originally.
The train one was our local one, it was train base because it was in Roseville Ca where the largest railyard on the Westcoast was and it was a railroad town so the front and all of the inside had life-sized trains all over the place
Very nostalgic video for me. I was born in '98, and my dad was part of EE boom from which Silicone Valley gets its moniker. Our family moved to Washington, but my dad would take trips out to a nearby city to visit Fry's. I think it was a big, geeky bubble for him that reminded him of CA. We often went together, and I loved looking at the walls of colorful motherboards and asking my dad about their parts.
As a newer Arizona resident, it was interesting to see Fry’s Supermarket next to Fry’s electronics. They built the two right next to each other. 😂
Fry's Foods used to have a miniature Fry's Electronics in them. Now it's clothing.
@@gorflunk you mean marketplace?
@@gorflunk I remember it had video games and movies, but they were expensive compared to Best Buy and Walmart.
really now, where was this at? The Thunderbird store didn't have anything next to it. The Tempe store wasn't next to a Fry's Grocery either. Fry's marketplace was not a mini Fry's Electronics. Silly
One grocery store I visited ocasionally had Fry's logos stamped on the back but I have never seen a Fry's grocery store before.
I grew up being brought to Fry's quite often. My dad and all his friends we're nerds so it was natural that sometimes we'd just go there to window shop. Mine was so expansive, I really took for granted how you could entertain yourself for sometimes even hours on end just walking around and looking at everything from handcuffs to oscilloscopes to all the computer cases on display. It wasn't just the go to store for electronics, it was a destination for daydreaming.
It's sad really that it's gone, I've been to Micro Centers when I visit other states and it scratches that itch just a little bit. You can't spend nearly as long in a Micro Center though. In fact my first time visiting one made me go "Wow, this place is so small..." Guess Fry's ruined me for life.
I live in Australia, we don't even have anything Micro Centre sized here, they look massive! hoping to check one out next time I go to the US.
Used to live about 20 minutes from a space themed Fry's in Houston, TX. Coolest place on the inside and we ended up buying two TVs and small electronics from there over the years. But it was sad to see how empty the shelves were towards the end. Somebody in the comments said a private company is moving in to the old space and I'm happy to know that it won't just sit collecting dust and falling apart. Those stores were enormous.
In my town there’s a huge Fry’s that was built to look like a space station. Now there’s just this giant unused warehouse that looks like a space station.
What always struck me as odd about the Fry's near me was the sheer number of employees it had. Large groups of them could be seen standing around with seemingly nothing to do. It's like they hired 4 times as many people as were needed to run the store. Still, I fondly remember the first time I ever went into an Incredible Universe before they were bought by Fry's and being completely blown away with the enormous scale of the store, much like a Toy R Us store was to a small child.
In later years they never had enough.
I would look at their multi page ad and think about buying this or that. I was impressed at the amount of cheap items they had. Best Buy might have 8 printers the cheapest one being 59.95 but Frys had 10 of them under 20.00. I loved that place.
I remember the incredible universe. I was not aware it was purchased by Frys
they had so many cash registers and only like 3 cashiers.
I wish they had a large group of employees lol, we were so understaffed, that on busy days if u called out without a doctors note ur were suspended for 5 days and fired. People that worked as merchandising had to do registers, backroom receivers had to work merchandising, an cashiers had to do custodian and returns lol. Sales men were commissions only an had to do merchandising too. And if your work wasnt done they would get mad. Pretty much everyone had to do everything with diffrent pay lol
As a field tech for many many years, the good thing about Fry's was they had everything, you couldn't say that about Radio Shack or Micro Center. Yeah, customer service wasn't great but when you knew what you needed you just needed to be pointed in the right direction.
yes. early 2000's. everytime i go there, it was like a electronic festival. it was always full of people. i see so many female customer. i dont see as much female customer at other electronic store. i always meet people there who have the same interest. everyone is a gamer. the price was right. they had some cheap brand that was cheaper than newegg. i brought my first 4GB ram stick for around $115 and it was almost 200 else where. i compared a lot of parts that was sometime cheaper than amazon and sometime amazon had it cheaper because that time amazon didnt charged tax.
so many available parts that you need and it was there. it blast radio shack away with many more product. the only thing it was for most people is the distance. after around 2012 i notice it was less and less customer. around 2017, they had TV on display but not in stock. i knew it was dying.
i like frys very much. it was always fun shopping there in early 2000's
That's what I loved about Fry's, you could buy raw materials when you were building something, they were like an old general store.. They were unscrupulous businessmen though, they burned too many people, especially their suppliers, but customers too .. I used to rummage through Weird Stuff Warehouse then, they bought used stuff from failed start-ups, upgrading networks, etc.. you could find some useful thing there too... now I'm sitting behind an iMac.
ah, yes, I remember the days of the radio shack catalog. A few common transistors and LEDs on the shelf, some resistors and ceramic caps in the drawers, a few connectors, and anything more esoteric than that, "oh, I'll go get the catalog". At least it was a lot faster than 4-6 weeks for the *store* to get it; rather than having it sent to a home address. I typically had parts the next week, including a few of those nice hammond enclosures I never got around to doing anything with stashed away somewhere. I miss those. China's gone to "hey we've been making these AC inverters and car stereos for a while, let's reuse this aluminium heatsink for everything else." ... And it still seems less reliable than epoxy potted radio shack components from two decades ago.
@@jimh6780 Weird Stuff! Totally forgot about that place, the good old days, lol
The Fry's in the video thumbnail (Burbank) was the one I shopped at, since it was near where I worked and lived. I remember my mind being blown when it first opened. It was like a trip to the best electronic stores and Disneyland all at the same time. Sad to watch it decline at the end.
*As a full-blown tech geeky I use to call Fry's Electronic my second home. I would always convince myself that I need this, I need that, etc... Any excuse I could think of that would send me off to Fry's Electronic, Upgrading my computer(I had 4 laptops and around 10 desktop computers), GPS, cameras, etc.. a few times a week. I won't tell you how much money I spent there weekly. My local store was the one in Manhattan Beach California. When they had these big sales, if they didn't have it at one store I would rush off to another store to find it, and so on.* *I've never had any problem with customer service.* *Back then you could return open package software no question asked. I would buy a bunch of software, on top of all the hardware I bought every week, and test the software to see which one I liked best and returned the rest.* *The policy started to change as people started pretty much installing the app and keeping it on their computer and returning the package.* *But you could still return your hardware no problem.* *They would have a ton of these crazy rebates that if followed to the letter you could get a lot of things for free. The process was tedious but if done right you would get a $10-$50 product for free.* *They would have rows and rows of rebates like you see with gift cards nowadays.* *All the technophiles waited religiously for their multipage Sunday paper insert.* *It was like opening up a gift wrapping. A few times you would have to check a few newspapers machine because people would steal the Fry's Electronic insert when they had valuable coupons in there from time to time.* *Fry's Electronic was heaven for us Tech Geek. R.I.P. Fry's Electronic.*
Shelves at our Frys were empty for the last couple of years. Everyone knew that they were going downhill but when asked, theyre employees denied it.
i went from San Diego to Oregon, the last time i was at the San Marcos location shelves were packed, when i got to Oregon it was depressingly empty
By 2018 when I dropped by Fry's HQ Mayan theme store in San Jose, there were only less than a dozen shoppers in gigantic store shopping. Worst yet is there was only like 2 people working the whole store. I told my friend if you carry out a big TV, who's gonna stop you!!! Heck going into or leaving the store you have to "PUSH" the electric door open as they tried to save electric bills
I remember when I was a kid, Fry's was like a wonderland for me. It was the Phoenix location, back in the early 2000s. I remember being excited to go there every other week to buy a new game for the family computer. We left the state when I was like, 14, and by then Gamestop and EB games had started to dominate my gaming habits because I could walk to the Fiesta mall, so I never really looked back at the big box store that was a 40 minute drive away to the other-side of downtown.
Still, its a fond memory.
I used to enjoy going to Fry's. Computers, parts, stereos, speakers, appliances, movies, also a cafe! Marvelous.
The problem was that Frys went down hill too fast. I remember how amazing the brand new store we got was, and was already disappointed with the damaged restrooms. Can’t blame Frys for that. It was clearly customers that decided they needed to break so many things so quickly after the store was built. From then on things deteriorated. Stock got old and obsolete. And very little would replace them. So many empty shelves and peg hooks. Even a decade ago you could tell that they wouldn’t be around long. I remember a few years before COVID, it was the week before Xmas, and the store was a ghost town. But could you blame consumers? There was hardly anything there to buy. Why drive all that way? The thing was that you made a special trip to Frys because it was an experience.
I will agree that Black Friday of 2017 and that holiday season was our last real one; 2018 through 2020 certainly doesn't count. :(