There are far too many parts (i.e. Officials said this is a result of changes in the retail . BuyAPi (Ottawa, ON: https://buyapi.ca/) also has some Adafruit and Sparkfun stuff, as well as Raspberry Pis. And theyre open Saturdays. Frys was great if you needed something Right Now; Mouser has better prices and selection, though you have to buy enough to overcome the cost of shipping. The only Frys in the Chicago area was a 45-60 minute drive, so I only visited on rare occasions or if I had other business to be in that suburb, but it was always an adventure. I will miss Frys. Agreed, online sales makes it nearly impossible to compete price wise as long as freight doesnt bite you, but time becomes the issue. The cash from the sale was used . Anyhoo, I used to hear good things about the brick and mortar side, but there was never one in range. People are quick to blame cheap stuff on the internet for killing the retail stores but where would they be without it? Its great for those of you that live in larger populated areas but what about those of us not in that class. Yeah, I went to the Fishers store late 2019, and it was a weird leaky ghost-town. Id like to recommend Electronic Plus in San Rafael. I didnt stop. Wed go to Frys just to stare at it it felt like SUCH an an incredible achievement. Havent visited there (yet). American Consumer Goods & Food Delivery Company FF&E Liquidation - 130 Locations Throughout the United States! You might say we could have collaborated online as we do now but bought our supplies local but that only really works for people who lived near something good like a Frys or a Dick Smith. Four stores were closed earlier: Fry's Electronics is prominently featured in the 2022 film Nope, which filmed at the Burbank location following its closure. Frys could have been Newegg if theyd have taken what worked from Outpost and further refined it. Fry's Electronics to permanently close all stores (msn.com) The remaining Fry's Electronics stores are all shutting down (engadget.com) Fry's Electronics workers claim managers told them retailer is closing its doors (eastbaytimes.com) I'm a bot to find news from different sources. If we want local stores to survive WE need to stop comparing prices to online and accept the local Price but we are all too greedy. I was also very sad to see Radio Shack go, even though it was crappy in a lot of ways, but hey, Ive been going since I was a kid back in the 60s. That is really disappointing to hear, their new PC stuff was often chintzy or pricey but they had stuff not available elsewhere locally. Make sure you go in the back/warehouse area. Be careful with Jameco, they sell counterfeit ICs: https://northcoastsynthesis.com/news/beware-fake-parts/. Mouser as in the electronics parts house located in Texas? ", "The impact of manufacturer rebates on supply chain profits", "The Economics of Manufacturers' Rebates", "Feds indict former Fry's exec accused of embezzling", "Fry's Electronics to pay $2.3 million in sexual harassment case", "Fry's Electronics Pays $2.3 Million to Settle EEOC Sexual Harassment and Retaliation Lawsuit", "Fry's Electronics (Finally) Launches Online Store", archived version of the site home page from 2005, "Fry's may launch ISP as part of new Net strategy", "Fry's Electronics steps up Web presence", "Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, California", "Business and Engineering - Notable Alumni", "Securing and Protecting a Domain Name for your Web Site", "Installation Profile: Legislative Sound", "Fry's Electronics Current Newspaper Ad Online", "Fry's accuses site owner of cybersquatting", "Reward of Arbitrator: Fry's Electronics and Prophet Partners", "The era of Fry's Electronics comes to an end in Palo Alto", "How Jordan Peele brought Fry's Electronics back to life in 'Nope', "Mr. Theres two great places in Houston. Im in the boondocks, and so am pretty limited to mail order. Please be kind and respectful to help make the comments section excellent. [35], In 2008, the Federal Communications Commission found Fry's failed to place the required "analog-only tuner" consumer-alert label on analog televisions, fining them $384,000. That was a sad day indeed when they closed. Still, I like going to stores. In August 2019, Fry's announced that it would close its oldest extant location in Palo Alto, by January 2020; the company said its lease at the location would not be renewed. About Fry's Electronics. Showing 1 - 6 of 6 products. If anyone knows of others, Id love to know, but my workshop has more and better selection of parts than Frys ever did. Any electronics store with a cafe/coffee shop at its centre where I could happily spend many hours browsing and purchasing Leathermans and Maglites for 1/4 of their price back home I had to be sensible with weight in the suitcase was something Ill miss. If a shop is open for the love of it, their prices will be reasonable. We still have American Science and Surplus in Geneva, Evanston, and Milwaukee. 6 products. Glad someone else mentioned Creatron! Even though the San Marcos (CA) store was 20 minutes away, I only went in there three times since moving to the area in 2017. Not what it used to be a couple of years ago. According to Frys website (PDF copy for posterity), all 31 stores across nine states were suddenly and permanently shuttered on Wednesday the 24th, citing changes in the retail industry and the widespread difficulties wrought by the pandemic. [47] In October 2006, a grand reopening of Frys.com introduced the online store with the same name as the retail outlets. [4] The company said those waiting for repairs will be notified how to claim their equipment. "After nearly 36 years in business as the one-stop-shop and online resource for high-tech professionals across nine states and 31 stores, Frys Electronics, Inc. (Frys or Company), has made the difficult decision to shut down its operations and close its business permanently as a result of changes in the retail industry and the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic," reads a statement from Fry's. Theyre everything a Radio Shack should have been. Electronics Goldmine is another one that I mail-order from often. https://www.allelectronics.com/ in Van Nuys, CA is always worth a visit when Im in the area. Dont forget Creatrons two stores in Toronto. Not bearly a half assed hacker in the store nevermind a qualified Sales associate. I used to ride my bike to the companys Egyptian-themed, pyramid shaped store in Campbell, which abruptly closed last November. Cowboys? When a local Radio Shack went under, I went and check out its mark-downs. Then I think they stopped shipping to Canada altogether, or the online site just sucked so bad I never returned. Social media saw the collapse of Fry's Electronics coming a long time It was truly a hackers emporium. We, Engadget, are part of the Yahoo family of brands. Too many bad experiences with items, especially computers or main boards having been returned by (on one occasion at least 6) people, and never properly checked before going onto the shelf. Everything I need, I have to order up from adafruit or newegg, servo city, sometimes resort to Amazon, etc. As a visitor from the U.K. to BlackHat & DefCon in Las Vegas back in the early 2010s, a trip (or two, possibly more) down to Frys at the south end of Las Vegas Boulevard was an amazing experience. I think they do mailorder. It had a big pegboard full of Jameco products and a policy that if they didnt have what you were looking for they would order it. Fry's Electronics today announced that after nearly 36 years it's going out of business "as a result of changes in the retail industry and the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic . I was with a startup (Frecom, fax & fax/modems) that won about 10 feet of shelf space in about 1990. You have to be careful when you go there because you might just go in with one project you are working on and walk out with three more. [46] For a time in the mid-2000s, the Web site identified itself as "Fry's Electronics Outpost.com", using dual branding in an attempt to create a connection in visitors' minds. Declining sales staff. They usually have it and you can be pretty sure if they dont their lead time is fairly accurate. They definitely lost their way. It may look as if Fry's is just another victim of the pandemic-era retail apocalypse, but the chain's demise has been a long time coming. Minimum 25 minute drive for me to reach the closest one. Dwindling component sections (Anaheim did have a great selection there for a while). At the company's Sunnyvale location, a worker hurriedly posted the. The companys Black Friday doorbusters were a Silicon Valley event, too, with lines around the block for $200 laptops and $60 routers. Report: Fry's Electronics going out of business, shutting - Reddit [44] The company later bought e-commerce site Cyberian Outpost in November 2001, and started online sales with a different URL (Outpost.com),[45] which confused customers who did not associate the online name with the brick-and-mortar store. It closed today, apparently it was "underperforming" and it's within 5 miles of 2 other stores. Fry's Electronics was founded by the sons of grocery magnate Charles Fry, who's family founded the Fry's Food and Drug chain. MarVac should have been in my route too, but I just never made it there. Excess Solutions in San Jose is supposed to be similar to HSC, nothing will replace Weird Stuff tho , Excess Solutions bought the HSC inventory and some folks from HSC work at Excess Solutions now. There was a big components store in Boise in the 90s that I went to a few times, but when I went looking for 62 pin card edge connectors for a IBM/PC project they didnt have any, claimed it was because they arent standard. Volker of Universal Solder designs some neat projects. Next time Im in LA Im going to make my first visit to the store. I dont have any decent electronics stores near me after Radio Shack kicked the bucket. It was near Gwinnett Place Mall, and to their credit they seem to have outlasted the mall at least. fry - auctions - Liquidation.com Auctions All I can say is I am surprised how much they mark-up their price and I am happy to see them gone. Robot. Mayan Temple? We took over the local Active Tech Store in Calgary, Alberta. Solarbotics (Calgary, AB: https://solarbotics.com/) has an assortment of kits, and also has the local Active Tech (https://active123.com) store in Calgary, so theres a retail presence, too. The weird little place under the Home hardware on College St still exists for all your connector and switch needs, too. The Palo Alto location closed on December 27, 2019. For. There was a time when having your product on the shelf at Frys meant that you had arrived. A couple of them like Lafayette (RIP) and Allied would begrudgingly accept mail orders and payment by check, and you could even buy from them with cash if you visited their headquarters. So where can a person go to pick up some quick components now that Radio Shack and Frys are no more? What a shame. Yes, setting foot into a Frys Electronics was an experience with a capital E when I moved to the Bay Area in 1990, one of the very first stores was laid out like the insides of a (now-vintage) computer youd walk down the aisles of the motherboard, bumping into giant human-sized capacitors and resistors as youd go. [57][58] In 2007, Fry's Electronics lost a domain dispute against Prophet Partners Inc., an online advertising company with thousands of generic and descriptive domain names. - Feb 24, 2021 5:52 am UTC. If you just buy what they sell for the price they sell it there is no competition. I keep imagining that Microcenter suddenly went out of business instead, and it makes me want to cry. Plus its just 10 mins from me. I cannot agree more. People pat themselves on the back for buying cheap online while our local stores go out of business. After our story, numerous other news outlets including CBS, San Jose Mercury News, and PC Gamer have begun to speculate, as well as obtain denials from Fry's Electronics . Denver/Boulder used to have a bunch of good electronics stores. Sorry to see them go. Not spectacular on electronics, but hey have interesting stuff and the basics. They were fun, they were interesting, theyll be missed. Erie had Warren Radio a couple of decades back. Electronics Plus is small, but he packs a lot in there. They all growed up now. Sad to see. [15] Most components from most OEMs, were available for purchase, to assemble a desktop computer, la carte. There isnt ANY place less than 50 miles away that has anything. But for me, it feels like were at the end of the era of gadget stores, now that the one I grew up with is gone. The second Sunnyvale store was designed to look like the interior of a giant computer; the walls were adorned with simulated circuit components, and the floor resembled a giant printed circuit board. Mail order or a chance that you find him with a stall at a Ham flea or similar, this guy is alright, doesnt quite have range a hacker would desire, but reasonable pricing for things already in Canada https://www.pcboard.ca/. Bid on Wholesale Consumer Electronics Lots in our Online Auctions - Find Major Brands From a Trusted BBB A+ Rated Source - Register Today Liquidity Services Brands. Items might be hung on the wrong shelves, and paying the sales droids on commission meant they werent very helpful finding electronics since they wouldnt be making anything on the sale. Their media stock (DVDs and video games, computer books) was better than anyone elses, but that market doesnt really exist anymore with downloadable music, movies and games and computer books were always going to be out of date. 701. For the. lovely. Egyptians? Fry's Electronics, Inc. was founded in 1985 in Sunnyvale, California in a 20,000 square-foot location by the three Fry brothers, John, Randy, and Dave; and Kathy Kolder. 407-628-5634 The one in Anaheim was fun to browse. [Main image source: San Jose Frys by Bryce Edwards; CC-BY 2.0]. Radioshack.com. The Frys around here was starting to show signs this would happen for quite a while. Last time I was in no Arduino, no Pi, very little left of the vintage gaming gear . That practice has worked for some chains with a decades-long head start on the practice, particularly Walmart. hung from the ceiling, and the bodies of 1957 Chevys and Buicks served as dining tables in the cafe. [62], This article is about the Fry's electronics stores. Some of the bigger ones have become zombie brands, but theyre effectively gone. After I left the military and I went on business trips to Cali I would always go out of my way to visit every Frys I could. by The best thing is, you could often get them cheap on closeout if you waited long enough and went through every week (my favorite hobby!). Shop By Consumer Electronics. Online stores like NewEgg and Amazon became the new norm for me. Would open source hardware be a thing like it is now? When will we mourn the loss of internet shops? My heart has been broken since we lost weird stuff. When Mouser and Digi-Key started, they were a revolution in component distribution and purchasing. Visiting there was an experience like none other, and no matter how often you went you were guaranteed to find new (to you) things. Even computer parts is an on-line endeavor.