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Fry’s Electronics, the go-to chain for tech tinkerers looking for an obscure part, has closed for good.
The closure, effective Wednesday, includes the chain’s massive store along Interstate 69 in Fishers, which opened in 2005.
The company, perhaps even more well known for outlandish themes at some of its stores, from Aztec to “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” said Wednesday in an online posting that the COVID-19 pandemic had made it impossible to continue. The Indiana store featured a racetrack theme when it opened.
Fans immediately took to Twitter to post images and memories (good and bad).
The chain was concentrated on the West Coast, but had 31 stores in nine states. It was founded 36 years ago.
The 180,000-square-foot Fishers store, 9820 Kincaid Drive, was built for Incredible Universe, a media and electronics superstore owned by Radio Shack parent Tandy Corp. The store opened in 1995 and closed two years later.
Used-car superstore AutoNation USA also occupied the building, which is about the size of an average Walmart superstore, from 1997 to 1999.
The pandemic has done heavy damage to retailers, but Fry’s was already getting hammered by online competition and a battle between heavy-hitters Best Buy and Amazon.com.
Fry’s Electronics Inc. said its operations have ceased and the wind-down of locations will begin immediately. Customers with electronics being repaired in-store store are being asked to pick them up.
The chain’s online presence appears largely to have been shut down.
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I’m so surprised said no one ever. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see what Fry’s was like in its prime. I first moved to Fishers three years ago and was thoroughly disappointed the one time I went in there.
In the 90s and early 2000s, stores were so well themed and fun to visit. I was a frequent visitor to the two in Phoenix when we lived there as prices were usually quite good. While I was happy to see one in Fishers when we moved here in 2011, it always was substandard by comparison. The chain never evolved with the times and could not possibly compete with Amazon. The only surprise I had was that it stayed open as long as it did. Sad.
+1. Before e-commerce hit, it was an incredible place and worth the drive.
Fry’s was lit. That was THE place to go. The last time I was in Fry’s (2018) I bought up a bunch of GPUs for an Ethereum rig. Fry’s was the only place in town that had GPUs at the time. RIP Fry’s—you had a great run.
It was a great store when it first opened. Last time I went pre-pandemic, several of the shelves were empty. You could tell they were in trouble.
They changed their business model to a “consignment” only store several years ago. They were in bad shape long before COVID hit.
It you were a “build it yourself” sort of person, they were great, while still having a lot of the standard stuff you’d expect to find in a Best Buy. I guess I’m surprised that even their online isn’t going to survive, but maybe I shouldn’t be with Amazon having become such a juggernaut. But still, there are other such electronics outlets still surviving out there . . . for now anyway.
In its prime and until about 4 years ago it was usually worth my 23 mile drive getting there. I’d bought cameras, computer components and software, audio equipment, CDs and DVD plus little electronic connectors etc that one would find only at Radio Shack. Their sales promotions, rebate procedures and generally poor marketing killed them though their prices were usually very competitive. Best Buy locally doesn’t have near the variety of inventory that Fry had. Sad that just a few of us will miss them.
I once stood 15 feet from six sales people who were talking and laughing and ignoring customers. I continued to look at the products in front of them for about 20 minutes without a single offer of help. I figured “what the hell” and fell down faking a heart attack. I got attention, but they were pissed I had brought attention to their lack of customer service. Did not buy anything and never went back.
That sounds like a mature thing to do to get attention…
You are one of the only people I know that has seen six sales people together at Fry’s at one time. The last few times I’ve been there, my experience has matched what most others have said – that there are no sales people to be seen in the areas where you browse products or at many of the counters in the areas out in the product areas.
But was it Lit?
Nice place when it first opened and was busy but it was very large and needed lots of traffic to support the space and inventory. Obviously the entire concept failed nationwide but the location of this one didn’t help it either. High visibility but awkward to get to.
Sad to see this once-iconic store go away. Nearest cool store like it is MicroCenter in Cincinnati. Ah well. I miss Radio Shacks, too.
Sad to see it go.
Fry’s used to be my go to place when I wanted to check out the newest in televisions. They had a section in back that must have had 200 different TV’s. I hadn’t been in there in several years and when I needed a new TV in November of 2020, I went to their website and they had virtually nothing. I knew the end was near then. Just one more, and certainly not the last, retailer to go by the wayside because of Covid-19 as well as the way shopping has gone virtual.
There can only be one reason why people worked there: discount…because helping people was *not* on their list of things to accomplish while they were on the clock.
Amazon and eBay are thrashing places like Fry’s.
Do you mean businesses run into the ground by extraordinarily bad management? There are electronic stores that are doing fine. I think the biggest example would be MicroCenter, who’s actually expanding operations.
Fry’s would’ve done much better if they reduced the footprint of their stores and focused on things like processors, graphics cards, and other PC components. Things that people want but that you can’t just go to Best Buy and get. Instead, they lost their suppliers for those things and only had stock of things that nobody would ever go to Fry’s for. Hopefully Microcenter comes to Indianapolis now that Fry’s is gone.
Frys could have worked to compete. Turn half the store into warehouse space and shipped from there all of those niche items people buy from Amazon. The main store could have been a normal electronics store. Instead it became a store of nothing.
“Best Buy just laid off 5,000 workers and will close more stores”
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https://edition.cnn.com/2021/02/25/business/best-buy-store-closures-workers/