Fry’s Is DEAD TO ME!

That IS sad. I remember going with my dad to the one in Canoga Park because I was looking for my first Mac ever and he helped me buy it. He was an engineer and knew a lot about electronics and we'd have sushi and go shopping sometimes. Last time I went was to buy him a microphone because a stroke had left his voice so weak. Very bittersweet memories.

The one near me is turning into a Costco Business Center.

Fry's has been a mess for awhile. Last time few times I went in it was barely stocked with large sections of the store blocked off. Lots of cheap As Seen on TV products and non-electronics items. I'm only surprised it held on as long as it did

I thought you meant Stephen.

Fry's has been shit for a while. At one point I loved to go browse. But most of the stuff they carried was weird no-name brands and no cheaper than anywhere else.

Every time I would visit my family in California, I made a special trip to Fryes. Last time I went, in Feb 2019, the shelves were mainly empty. It was obvious it was going out of business. Covid killed it completely

Fry's was a great place to buy electronics at a decent price.

Unfortunate.

Shircut Shitty.

Yeah, I agree with the posters above. Last I went in 2019 to buy the microphone for my dad, it was depressingly empty and desolate. I figured they were going to go out of business or remodel. I guess online shopping plus COVID killed it which is too bad because, while I like the convenience of online shopping, a good store can give you a nice feel for what you will buy in a way virtual reality can't.

I would go to the one in Tempe, AZ. That location had a golf theme. Surly, rude salespeople, odd rat-maze checkout lined with candy and every odd item from China you could ever see. Really don't miss them.

I would go to the one by Nasa, which had a Nasa theme. It never had any stock, but there were always people in there shopping. I liked the odd items from China. I think there was probably a way to save the business but it was probably badly mismanaged.

I liked going to the one in Manhattan Beach. Could hang out in there for hours. Extra big store, lots of merchandise, But it was the flashback aspect that I really liked. That Manhattan Beach store felt so very 1970s. Decor and vibes were so 70s.

R12, I think you must be in one of my Facebook groups because I saw a post just like yours in the last couple days.

I grew up going to the Fry's in Wilsonville, OR with my dad. So many great memories there. We lived in Portland, but it was a fairly short drive away. It was truly the Costco of electronics. I was a cinephile even as a kid, so I naturally loved the movie section. I would spend hours in there looking at DVDs while my dad bought computer parts.

I revisited the store around 2014 and it was still well-stocked at that time; it still looked very '90s, but it seemed like business was doing fine. Fast forward to last year, I went there looking for an SSD to replace the failing hard drive in my MacBook, and they didn't have any in stock(?????). At that time, the shelves were barren and the store had hardly any computers for sale. They at one time had an entire section devoted to build-your-own PCs, as well as a whole Macintosh section too—it was all gone. I assumed they were shutting down then.

I went back a few week ago weirdly enough just to check it out, and found they had cordoned off half the building. There was basically nothing but junk there. They had a small movie section still with a fairly good selection of weird cult movies mixed with a bunch of bargain-bin titles, but that was really it. I bought a couple of movies. It was honestly very depressing. When I saw a new article the other day that they were shutting all of them down, I was sad, but not surprised. Another '90s relic bites the dust.

No big lost. There’s nothing there that I can’t get from CompUSA, Good Guys, or Radio Shack.

[quote][R12], I think you must be in one of my Facebook groups because I saw a post just like yours in the last couple days.

r13 Must be two of us who feel that way. At least about the Manhattan Beach store. I've never posted my feelings about Fry's anyplace else. Glad to hear there is at least one other person who felt like I did.

R12 yes, I loved the Manhattan Beach location. It had a '70s Polynesian tiki type vibe.

I liked it more than the silly spaceship one in Burbank.

Too bad.

Now I wish I had gone more often. The few times I went years ago, I felt the store was kinda hectic but they had a lot of great stuff.

I think the Manhattan Beach store was the first one in Southern Calif. I remember driving all the way out there before they opened stores closer to where I live. Fry's was so popular at one time that it was nearly impossible to find parking spaces on the weekends. And there were always long lines to check out, even with more than 20 registers open.

The Wilsonville, OR store mentioned above, along with several others (like the one in Sacramento) was originally an Incredible Universe location. IU was Tandy's (Radio Shack's parent) unsuccessful attempt to create a big-box electronics retailer.

I used to joke that I should've had my paycheck direct-deposited at Fry's, since I bought so much stuff there. I was always one of those early-adopter, must have everything geeks, and I purchased SO much stuff at Fry's, especially when they had great sales. I have bought desktops, printers, hard drives, components, cables, phone accessories, small appliances, audio and video equipment and much more over the years. I'm sure I shopped there at least once a month, if not more often from at least that late '80s through 2010. But in the last five years or so, I probably have only been inside a Fry's once or twice.

:) all the memories are sweet. my dad was an engineer in san jose too, and i'd always remember coming here and thinking it was such a weird building. i would just wonder the aisles, looking at the books and video games while he headed to the computer stuff. they also had a specific bubblegum here that i couldn't find anywhere.

it is sad it is closing but they really fell behind with re: online shopping. it is what it is. adapt or die.

Who got the flying saucer?