[upbeatlinux]

A week before Thanksgiving I went to the Fry's in Roseville. The Northgate (Sacramento) location has always been busy (haven't been back since 2018). Fry's has always been my go to for last minute electronics (i.e. I can't wait for next day shipping).

The entire computer/networking section was bare. They had a wireless IP camera and a $400 "small-business class" Cisco router (can't remember which model). No cable modems, no other routers, nothing. The only stocked shelves were media (CDs and Blu-ray). The Christmas shoppers were disgruntled they had made the trip.

A sales associate I talked to was confounded. When asked whether Fry's was going out of business he said they were told no. He mentioned there had been no deliveries in months and the storage they did have was empty.

I don't think it can be attributed to just Prime or better service at Best Buy. The market is saturated with tech. Everyone has a cell phone, laptop/desktop, TV, smart-device, etc. Fry's should've been downsizing about 10 years ago. It's possible they could've done more with their service department (the tire, car audio system installers always seemed busy)

I'll always remember Fry's as

- being packed during the holidays

- having ridiculous long checkout lines b/t 1998-2016 even an hour before close

- being able to find cool/rare last minute gifts

- massive selection of photography equipment

- in recent years (?) having price-match guarantee

[grendelt]

> he said they were told no

This is what companies that are going out of business tell their employees in order to keep enough people around to help liquidate/pack up when it's time to shut down.

Curious to know if employee paychecks are still arriving on time and clearing.

[toast0]

Whatever is happening at Fry's, it's not the normal retail circling the drain. Toys R Us had more inventory on shelves a week into their final clearance sales than Fry's in Fountain Valley did a couple days before Christmas.

If it were trying to make things work, they should be consolidating stores to reduce operating costs. But they're just in some sort of holding pattern. I saw a rumor on a Fry's employee forum that one of the brothers Fry was going through a personal bankruptcy and that was disrupting the corporation's credit, which seems plausible, but hasn't been reported anywhere legitimate, so I dunno.

[ruffrey]

I was at the Northgate store just before Thanksgiving, too. Totally shocked when they had zero CPUs, motherboards, and RAM. An employee said they were hit hard by the tariffs and were looking for new suppliers. That didn't make very much sense to me, because you can buy stuff like that elsewhere, even if the prices went up (I'm not sure if they did or did not). I grew up going to that store when it was still called Incredible Universe. It seems certain that it will close any day.

[upbeatlinux]

IIRC Incredible Universe have a McDonald's inside.

The Fry's PC builder section at Northgate was a mainstay for years. Sad days.