Are all Fry’s in this condition?
daddyjt
Posts: 2,560
Being in CA for work, I passed a Fry’s today, and figured I’d check it out, as they do not have locations near my home, and I’ve never been in one.
Well, getting off the freeway and parking turned out to be a complete waste of time. The store is HUGE - kind of makes me think Cabela’s, but for electronics. I’m betting that, in its heyday, it was a sight to behold. But not now. I thought maybe I’d find some high-res SACDs - nope. Listen to some nice speakers - nope. Look at some high-end TVs - nope. Just a handful of bored employees sitting at their stations in various departments.
The store was almost literally gutted. In The “audio demo rooms”, the demo stood for demolition, not demonstration. One or two pair of speakers in each, with wires, dust and junk everywhere. No TVs on demonstration, just a few in boxes. CDs? None. About the only thing they had in abundance were earbuds, phone accessories and perfume. Yes, perfume.
I gues I showed up about 5-10 years late to the Frys party... I would have loved to see it back “in the day”...
Well, getting off the freeway and parking turned out to be a complete waste of time. The store is HUGE - kind of makes me think Cabela’s, but for electronics. I’m betting that, in its heyday, it was a sight to behold. But not now. I thought maybe I’d find some high-res SACDs - nope. Listen to some nice speakers - nope. Look at some high-end TVs - nope. Just a handful of bored employees sitting at their stations in various departments.
The store was almost literally gutted. In The “audio demo rooms”, the demo stood for demolition, not demonstration. One or two pair of speakers in each, with wires, dust and junk everywhere. No TVs on demonstration, just a few in boxes. CDs? None. About the only thing they had in abundance were earbuds, phone accessories and perfume. Yes, perfume.
I gues I showed up about 5-10 years late to the Frys party... I would have loved to see it back “in the day”...
“Human beings are born with different capacities. If they are free, they are not equal. And if they are equal, they are not free.”
― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Comments
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Both Dallas and Houston stores are bare2-channel: Modwright KWI-200 Integrated, Dynaudio C1-II Signatures
Desktop rig: LSi7, Polk 110sub, Dayens Ampino amp, W4S DAC/pre, Sonos, JRiver
Gear on standby: Melody 101 tube pre, Unison Research Simply Italy Integrated
Gone to new homes: (Matt Polk's)Threshold Stasis SA12e monoblocks, Pass XA30.5 amp, Usher MD2 speakers, Dynaudio C4 platinum speakers, Modwright LS100 (voltz), Simaudio 780D DAC
erat interfectorem cesar et **** dictatorem dicere a -
Sadly, yes. They have cratered all over the place. I don't have a clue how they can afford to even open the doors on their locations unless they own them outright.The Gear... Carver "Statement" Mono-blocks, Mcintosh C2300 Arcam AVR20, Oppo UDP-203 4K Blu-ray player, Sony XBR70x850B 4k, Polk Audio Legend L800 with height modules, L400 Center Channel Polk audio AB800 "in-wall" surrounds. Marantz MM7025 stereo amp. Simaudio Moon 680d DSD
“When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.”— Thomas Jefferson -
My understanding is they are in debt to vendors, and there may be an acquisition
2-channel: Modwright KWI-200 Integrated, Dynaudio C1-II Signatures
Desktop rig: LSi7, Polk 110sub, Dayens Ampino amp, W4S DAC/pre, Sonos, JRiver
Gear on standby: Melody 101 tube pre, Unison Research Simply Italy Integrated
Gone to new homes: (Matt Polk's)Threshold Stasis SA12e monoblocks, Pass XA30.5 amp, Usher MD2 speakers, Dynaudio C4 platinum speakers, Modwright LS100 (voltz), Simaudio 780D DAC
erat interfectorem cesar et **** dictatorem dicere a -
Frys is going out of business. I now use Amazon for everything but groceries. However, I have bought some groceries from Amazon, but mostly go to the store.Lumin X1 file player, Westminster Labs interconnect cable
Sony XA-5400ES SACD; Pass XP-22 pre; X600.5 amps
Magico S5 MKII Mcast Rose speakers; SPOD spikes
Shunyata Triton v3/Typhon QR on source, Denali 2000 (2) on amps
Shunyata Sigma XLR analog ICs, Sigma speaker cables
Shunyata Sigma HC (2), Sigma Analog, Sigma Digital, Z Anaconda (3) power cables
Mapleshade Samson V.3 four shelf solid maple rack, Micropoint brass footers
Three 20 amp circuits. -
The last time I visited Fry’s was over ten years ago. It was a horrible place, with broken stuff, and employees that looked as though they had slept on the shop floor without having showered for a week.
It made Circuit City during the final years seem like Nordstrom’s in comparison. Surprising they’ve managed to survive this long.Alea jacta est! -
The store in Woodland Hills has been sold to a developer and is being turned into the model of Agenda-21 living. Funny thing is that the employees of the store believe what the company tells them and they will be seeing new product on the shelves in April!
The Gear... Carver "Statement" Mono-blocks, Mcintosh C2300 Arcam AVR20, Oppo UDP-203 4K Blu-ray player, Sony XBR70x850B 4k, Polk Audio Legend L800 with height modules, L400 Center Channel Polk audio AB800 "in-wall" surrounds. Marantz MM7025 stereo amp. Simaudio Moon 680d DSD
“When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.”— Thomas Jefferson -
Two years ago the Dallas store was ok. The employees always looked like
Prisoners. The Microcenter store was leaps and bounds better in customer
Service."The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg." --Thomas Jefferson -
I went to Fry's quite a bit from '05-'10 when I still lived in Illinois. People who worked there were pretty friendly if you could get ahold of one. They never had enough staff to go around.Audio: Polk S15 * Polk S35 * Polk S10 * SVS SB-1000 Pro
HT: Samsung QN90B * Marantz NR1510 * Panasonic DMP-BDT220 * Roku Ultra LT * APC H10 -
Went to the Burbank location on Saturday (great decor there) and it was pretty empty. I asked if they were discounting anything beyond there normal prices, and the guy looked at me funny. My wife asked if they were closing and the guy said no, they were waiting on shipments.________________
2 Channel-Denon AVR-4520/SDA 2.3TL's
5.1-Denon AVR-4500h/RT3000P's/CS1000P/RT2000P's/ -
apparently they are on some sort of Consignment model now.. not exactly how it works for them but they are changing up their business though
Main 2ch -
BlueSound Node->Ethereal optical cable->Peachtree Audio Nova 150->GoldenEar Triton 2+
TT - Pro-ject Classic SB with Sumiko Bluepoint.
TV 3.1 system -
Denon 3500 -> Dynaudio Excite 32/22 -
For the most part, their prices were historically too high except for hard to find PC components which micro center didn’t carry or were out of stock.
But we all know, a store that large with massive overhead cannot survive on PC parts.
Their electronics were strangely diverse, but again overpriced unless they went on clearance.
Shame because it was a very cool store to spend time in. -
I used to go to the store in Milton and could waste a half-day there. I was particular caught up in looking at the computer and electronics parts that could not be found elsewhere.
That must be the store you have frequented."Sometimes you have to look to the past to understand where you are going in the future"Anger is just anger. It isn’t good. It isn’t bad. It just is. What you do with it is what matters.
You can use it to build or to destroy. You just have to make the choice. Jim Butcher
Harry / Marietta GA -
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CompUSA, Best Buy, Musicland, and Target all rolled into one....The Gear... Carver "Statement" Mono-blocks, Mcintosh C2300 Arcam AVR20, Oppo UDP-203 4K Blu-ray player, Sony XBR70x850B 4k, Polk Audio Legend L800 with height modules, L400 Center Channel Polk audio AB800 "in-wall" surrounds. Marantz MM7025 stereo amp. Simaudio Moon 680d DSD
“When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.”— Thomas Jefferson -
I went to Fry's quite a bit from '05-'10 when I still lived in Illinois. People who worked there were pretty friendly if you could get ahold of one. They never had enough staff to go around.
Frys in Illinois was awesomeMagico M2, JL113v2x2, EMM, ARC Ref 10 Line, ARC Ref 10 Phono, VPIx2, Lyra Etna, Airtight Opus1, Boulder, AQ Wel&Wild, SRA Scuttle Rack, BlueSound+LPS, Thorens 124DD+124SPU, Sennheiser, Metaxas R2R -
We used to have a neat store(s) in the SLC area called Ultimate Electronics. Stores the size of Best Buy, but with nothing but audio and video gear. Bought my first sub there, as well as my first big (45”, lol) Pioneer rear-projection tv.“Human beings are born with different capacities. If they are free, they are not equal. And if they are equal, they are not free.”
― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn -
Actually - it was the Duluth store - about twice the size of that one believe it or notBlueBirdMusic wrote: »I used to go to the store in Milton and could waste a half-day there. I was particular caught up in looking at the computer and electronics parts that could not be found elsewhere.
That must be the store you have frequented.
but been to the Milton one many a time!
