Fry's Electronics Going Out of Business?

[Sal Ammoniac]

It is all about the economics: how much income is lost due to people going to a different store if a store has receipt checks versus how much income is lost due to shop lifting. This doesn't say nothing has to be done to prevent shoplifting. Most shops over here do random checks based on data that is collected. They look at things like previous behaviour of the person and the combination of products. It turns out that the type and combination of products bought can be used as a probability indicator a person stole something or not. The exact algorithms are a closely kept secret.

Stores have ways of identifying shoplifters without doing bag checks. I object to bag checks because they are a form of "guilty until proven innocent". Honest customers should never even be aware that anti-shoplifting measures are happening.

BTW: you shouldn't rule out the employees either. Probably most of the shoplifting is done by the employees. They have much better opportunities to steal stuff.

Bingo. It's well-known that most loss is due to employees, not customers.

[wilfred]

Most shops over here do random checks based on data that is collected. They look at things like previous behaviour of the person and the combination of products. It turns out that the type and combination of products bought can be used as a probability indicator a person stole something or not. The exact algorithms are a closely kept secret.

BTW: you shouldn't rule out the employees either. Probably most of the shoplifting is done by the employees. They have much better opportunities to steal stuff.

So, not random after all.

If I look at the cameras at supermarkets they are in the highest density directly over checkouts. At least one per checkout. It would be so easy for staff to miss scanning an item for a friend or give the wrong (too much) change.

Although perversely I once got home still unsure I gave a $50 and only got change for a $20. So I rang the manager and gave him the date time on the receipt (another good reason to always take them). He rang me back the next day after reviewing the footage and said he could see I did tender a $50.

I hope they don't start recording people PINs. I cover the keypad.

[windsmurf]

...
I hope they don't start recording people PINs. I cover the keypad.

I think PIN entry keypads should all be the scrambling type:

[JimS]

My first experience with Fry's, as I recall, was at the Sunnyvale store in the mid 90's.
I was like a kid in a candy shop.
Got a Tyan Pentium 90 motherboard with built in SCSI.
Was told by my boss (at the time) that they started as a small grocery store.
Which was why they still had some grocery items.

Any way, I have noticed that the store in Roseville, the shelves are kinda bare.
They did not have nearly the selection of computers, parts and other computer etc hardware.
Plenty of hard drives and networking gear though.
I felt that they were only stocking items that have the highest volume of sales.

So they look to be going the way of Radio Shack.
Looks like mail order did them in, just like the computer fairs in Sacramento.

On the other hand Fry's grocery chain, AFAIK, in Tucson is still a going concern.

[xrunner]

I think PIN entry keypads should all be the scrambling type:

But what about the people who use a pattern and don't remember the numbers?

[Sal Ammoniac]

Was told by my boss (at the time) that they started as a small grocery store.
Which was why they still had some grocery items.
...
On the other hand Fry's grocery chain, AFAIK, in Tucson is still a going concern.

The grocery chain was started by the parents. The electronics chain was started by the kids. Otherwise, they are completely independent.

[bob91343]

I believe the Fry's grocery operation is (or was) owned by Kroger.

[Homer J Simpson]

[mcovington]

Looking back at my blog, I see that the Duluth, Georgia (NE Atlanta) Fry's opened in August 2004 and made a good impression on me, but already by December 2005 it was declining.  Here's what I wrote then:

"Yesterday Melody and I went to Fry's Electronics in Duluth, Georgia, and concluded that the store is no longer what it initially promised to be. Interesting and useful items are not being restocked (especially electronic components), and the prices on audio equipment were (in our limited experience) not as good as Best Buy and Circuit City. Despite its size, that enormous store is no longer a reliable source of anything hard to find. We went over to Micro Center and found some audio cables that Fry's didn't even know where to look for, as well as lots of employees who could answer questions instead of just replying, 'What is that?'"

Amazingly, it is still there, although it has been inching closer to death ever since.  I will get a look at it this Saturday.  It seems to have been on the verge of going out of business for years.  Lack of restocking is the main thing. 

[SL4P]

The early story is quite interesting...
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fry%27s_Electronics

[metrologist]

Many of you won't know this but Frys offered broadband and dialup services. They had the ISP hosted on their frys.com website long before they used that domain for their online retail storefront. I watched in amazement as they let the online revolution roll right over them, and then how they totally mismanaged the outpost.com website for their online retail. I couldn't believe what was going on. Finally they migrated their online retail to the frys domain and retired outpost, but they already missed the market.

[andy3055]

I live in the east-bay and the nearest one at Concord has shelves almost completely empty. Like Bill158 mentioned earlier in this thread, they do re-pack the returns and sometimes they indicate it is a return. Most of the time they do not. I knew this and I never buy anything of importance there and stick only to components that are in original packaging. They did have a huge inventory of NTE parts which was very convenient. I always wondered if those TVs and PCs they sell were rejects from other places!

Since Radio shack is also gone, I will have to order stuff on eBay when it comes to parts now. Ordering from Digikey or Mouser will cost another $7-10 for shipping. Unless it is a large order, it is not worth. Amazing how the times have changed!

[boffin]

They must be in dire straits, they solid their 747SP a few years back (it went to NASA)

[CatalinaWOW]

Had a free day in SoCal this week and took in the City of Industry store.  I have always loved the decor there - emulating a turn of the twentieth century industrial plant.  But the whole experience reminded me of Sears just before they announced their final bankruptcy and closure.  Lots of empty shelves, and many of the shelves that weren't empty were covered with filler.  At Sears the filler was filters for their shop vacuums.  Literally hundreds of filters on shelves all over.  At this Fry's it was travelers adapter kits, mains plugs to fit most styles.  Everywhere.

There was one Rigol 1054Z, if someone wants to pay full list plus CA and City of Industry sales taxes.  Other similar "bargains".

The aisles and parking lots were empty and two cashiers handled all the business without being busy.

I would guess that there is less than a year left.  Maybe much less.

[andy3055]

Another thing is that none of the items are on sale. I spoke to one of the people there and she says "... no, we are still getting stocks daily." Right. Why are the shelves empty then?

[oPossum]

I watched in amazement as they let the online revolution roll right over them, and then how they totally mismanaged the outpost.com website for their online retail. I couldn't believe what was going on. Finally they migrated their online retail to the frys domain and retired outpost, but they already missed the market.

I didn't know Outpost was run by Fry's. They had a few memorable ads.

[maginnovision]

Yea, I remember when the online site switched from outpost.com. I was always confused when I'd try to use it... For about 2 years.

[Sal Ammoniac]

Fry's could have become what Amazon is today if only their management jumped on the eCommerce bandwagon in the early days and did it right. Instead, they totally botched it and now their huge retail stores sit with empty shelves and few customers. I think they'll be out of business by the end of the year.

[nctnico]

Fry's could have become what Amazon is today if only their management jumped on the eCommerce bandwagon in the early days and did it right. Instead, they totally botched it and now their huge retail stores sit with empty shelves and few customers. I think they'll be out of business by the end of the year.

The problem with the big retail stores is that they aren't setup logistically to do online business. For example: the last time I ordered something online from Ikea it took them two weeks to deliver. Not because the item wasn't available but because they don't think about online retail.

[free_electron]

i was there couple of weeks ago since i needed a docsis modem. They had none. all the selves with networking stuff were empty. i asked an employee if he could check if there was stock. Zip, none, not a single one in all their stores.
The employee suggested i tried their sister stores.

Baffled, (i've lived here for 15 years and never knew fry's had sister stores) i asked which sister stores?

The employee wryly answered : bestbuy and amazon.

The mercury news had an article stating they are negotiating new supplier deals where they want to go to a consignment model. Suppliers are only paid for when goods leave the stores, not when they are on the shelves. I don't think that's gonna fly ...

Central computers has better pricing and better quality and better technical support / knowhow than fry's.
I don't mind the 2 $ difference on a 10$ network cable but not knowing the difference between CAT5 , CAT6 straight and crossover , that cans it for me. All the fry's guys work on commission and don't know the difference between an RJ45 and a cow. They only know how to make you a 'quote' ,which they then print so you can hand it to the cashier and they get their little commission. The real go-getters would make you a quote for a 2$ item. Now they can't even be bothered.
Electronic parts : Anchor electronics on walsh and excess solutions / halted on 7th. Yes, Halted lives on. They got absorbed by excess solutions and lots of their stuff is in that warehouse now.

Gone are the days where every friday Fry's would have an 8 page insert in the newspaper with their specials.

[Bud]

Cant their stores technically be converted to warehouses in parnership with say Amazon, to get stuff close to the consumers and expedite delivery?

[linux-works]

I used to give lots of business to Central computers; but after they screwed my company over on a supermicro motherboard (that was less than 1 month old, refused to POST and they refused to board-swap us; it took over 2 months down-time.  not even sure how long it took, as I gave up waiting after 2 months time)

that said, microcenter is long gone from the bay area and if you need computer parts that-day, central is one of the few still left.

really miss Halted; will have to see if the new location is at all like the old one. 

[Sal Ammoniac]

really miss Halted; will have to see if the new location is at all like the old one. 

Not really. Yes, they have a lot of the stuff from the old Halted location, but the whole feel of the place is different. Another one bites the dust...

[free_electron]

really miss Halted; will have to see if the new location is at all like the old one. 

Not really. Yes, they have a lot of the stuff from the old Halted location, but the whole feel of the place is different. Another one bites the dust...

true, they have less of the 'old crap' that halted was famous for. like solid carbon resistors , stinkbug caps and other vacuum-tube era stuff.
They do have a better selection of 'modern' parts.