Thread regarding Fry's Electronics layoffs

Amazon is not too far from Fry's. Anybody notice they no longer guarantee two day shipping for Prime eligible items? And they started modifying their return policies. I had a rude awakening not long ago with an expensive item I wanted to return due to a defect. Imagine my surprise when Amazon refused my return even though I had a valid reason. Amazon did not even put a warning during order placement that the item cannot be returned. Been a customer of Amazon since they opened in 1994. Stopped buying expensive computer parts from Amazon after that incident.

To those who say Fry's went out of business because they started selling As Seen On TV items and perfumes. I have been going to their stores since 1991 and they always had those items. The major changes I saw was their food court expansion and DVD/Bluray section added late 90s. Fry's also took up the slack when Tower Records closed by expanding their music CD section.

What surprised me during their heyday was how bad they treated their employees. Anyone noticed how there are no janitors at Fry's Electronics? You will never see an employee take out the trash. Or will you ever see a dumpster outside Fry's Electronics. That is because the owners are so paranoid about employees throwing away items inside the store and then dumpster diving for the same items after their shift is over. Trash was handled by a private security company who screened the trash before they are collected. This type of theft was something popularized by Walmart employees. Fry's just went full gestapo on their own employees.

But even with all their faults I still have fond memories at Fry's Electronics. Fry's Electronics has a special place in my heart. I first saw a video game (Unreal) running on a Voodoo card and decided I would build my own computer. Up until then I was playing Quake software rendered. Imagine my surprise when the demo setup at Fry's had all the items listed to build a similar computer and where to find it all in store. Went home and checked my balance and came back to buy everything I needed on the same day. Fry's used to open at 6am then close at midnight in their Orange County locations in California. Talk about convenience! You can't do that with Amazon. Not even when they tested the same day and 3 hour shipping for the lucky ones who live near a fulfillment center.

Thank you Fry's Electronics!

Went to the store today on the North Freeway in Houston (45)... Was really bummed out. A few motherboards, no networking gear, many shelves completely empty. Much like someone else said, I asked various employees and most said that management tells them nothing. Talked to a cashier who was a manager, said that they just got some new suppliers and shelves would be full again soon. I'm seriously doubting that. I've seen many big box stores go out of business over the years. This has all the tell-tale signs of Bankruptcy. Bummer..

I saw a video of a store on YouTube, they have less merchandise than Kmart did pre bankruptcy, and way less than post bankruptcy Kmart. Looks like the suppliers cut them off which did in Circuit City, Bon-Ton etc.

The ownership either didn’t stash enough wealth during the good years to cut a check and save the company ala Fast Eddie Lampert, or believed the concept is no longer viable.

Well run privately held companies almost always look better than ones that have to answer to shareholders. Look at Meijer, Wegmans, Harbor Freight, jammed with merchandise and customers. If Fry’s isn’t closing I’d be surprised. However why not decade bankruptcy unless they aren’t bankrupt and are simply going to sell through and close?

Just walked out of the Fountain Valley, CA Fry's and shelves are bare. Sorry to see the store go.

Wilsonville location in Oregon is the same story, but they gave us varying answers from "new inventory coming for 2020" to "the green tag are really good deals" to "pfff" and walking away.

They had 2 monitor types in stock.

THANKS AMAZON!!!!!!!

Just left the store in San Marcos, CA. I was a bit suspicious when on a Saturday afternoon there were less than 20 cars in the parking lot. I mean this store used to percolate with customers on the weekends. Once inside I found out why. The return counter was manned by one person, and there were only two cash registers open. There wasn't a single sales person in the computer parts and accessories isles, and only one at the new computers section. There were entire rows of shelves devoid of any merchandise. The same held true in other departments as well. Boxes torn open by customers were in every aisle. The store was in general disarray, almost as if it had been abandoned. It surprised me not to see dead fish floating in the giant aquariums. I found nothing I needed and left empty handed. At the exit the usual Gestapo checking customers' sales receipts was missing, and I could have walked out with anything. It's easy to see that the bugler is blowing taps for this place.

Just left the store in Tempe AZ me same thing. Shelves are empty and place was dead. I asked two associates if the were closing. Both gave canned answers "we are not sure" so that's that I guess. Another victim of Amazon?

Interesting that I should find this recent post today. I remember when the Fry's Electronics store in Renton, WA was booming. The place was always busy. Lately, when I've gone looking for something, it's just about guaranteed they won't have it. I was just there today, Friday mid-day, and the place was dead. The parking lot was almost empty. There was almost nobody in the store. And the shelves were more empty than ever. Based on the comments I've read here, this is not an isolated case, and I'm reading the signs correctly - they're not going to be around much longer. That's unfortunate, because with the demise of Radio Shack, there just isn't anywhere to go around here when you need electronic parts right now.

Electronics might be down but deli isn't!

We definitely are going out of business. We barely have staff at my location (an entire department got laid off/quit, the remaining managers are doing multiple positions, vendors haven't been paid,no restocks since January, we can't send defects back due to vendors being cut off and to top it off after a month hiatus our store manager came in just to quit with no notice. Considering corporate's genius policy making and the stocking of such questionable brands that make Chinese fakes look premium, we all knew this was bound to happen.

Was at Fry's, Roseville, CA. The CPU/Memory wall was empty. No motherboards, many shelves empty. The weird thing... I was there not long ago. Got a SATA SSD, price matched. I thunk maybe a month or two ago all the shelves were full. So this is very drastic and across the board. Frankly Amazon sells a lot of junk too. I really don't see a lot of options these days. In Sacramento, we too had an Incredible Universe. I remember when Fry's came in. It took them practically 10 years to redecorate that store. Fry's k–led the mom and pop computer stores, and now they are wasting away too. Donkey Balls.

I was just at a store in Milton GA, in north Atlanta. This is one of the two Atlanta metro stores. Yes, bare shelves here too. I needed some heatshrink tubing and they had 2 freaking pieces left in the display!
I went there a few weeks earlier for the same thing and they had a few more pieces but not in the size I wanted. I noted that things were a bit thin in the electronics/computer section at that time but this time it was obvious. They did have a full aisle of "As seen on TV" items and the perfume section seemed full too.

They should have learned from the demise of Radio Shack, don't try to be all things to all people. I'll miss a local store that has the electronic bits and pieces I need and will be sorry to see them go though they were always a bit weird.

I work for a Supplier to Fry's and it is now going on a year's worth of outstanding invoices. We haven't received a new PO from Fry's for over 2 months, not that we would fulfill it even if we did. The Fry's in Anaheim was a ghost town the last time I went in there and the shelves were mostly bare. I'm surprised it is taking them this long to announce bankruptcy or whatever they decide. Maybe they are putting together a comprehensive list of all the creditors so. Too bad, I enjoyed going into the store back in the day!!

Wow, Tallcantommy,

I couldn't have said it better myself, that's perfectly describes my life, wandering down the aisles etc exactly as you mentioned. If i want something that catches my eye, I want it NOW! Not wait 2 days for prime shipping. (Which is even longer lately I noticed on some items)

I just left the location in North Houston off of I-45 and Beltway, and I got aggravated and was going to make a complaint about their store... But I went up to an associate and was kinda giving the benefit of the doubt, but sarcastically asked, "are you guys going out of business or what" and to my surprise he said "maybe I'm not sure" . Lol. I told him about the empty aisle of network switches and access points and he told me there are rumors among the employees that they are going out of business but "no official word"... Then i got online to research it and found this page ...

My life kinda feels empty now.

The Austin store is effected as well. So sad. I have dear friends that have worked here for YEARS. There's been layoffs, cut hours, low amount of product being received. The sad thing is that there has been no word of it closing...even from management. Either they are trying their damndest to stay open or at least stay open through the holiday season or its gonna be one of those last minute, sudden closing things. Honestly its Home Office to blame bc their policies are crazy and just a bunch of poor business decisions made throughout the years. Super sad really. I've told my friends to start sending out their resumes and get out of retail altogether. I mean the writing is on the wall. The store is going under. Period.

yeah, went to all 4 stores in the DFW metroplex this past weekend just to see for myself, yup, pretty much done. guessing they wont make it to "Black Friday" this year! ;) another big box computer/AV DIY store gone to the sh–ter! oh well, just too sad!

Yes a lot of electronics would be affected by the Tariffs, however, Fry's issues started way way before the tariffs were put in place + a lot of their items weren't purchased directly from manufacturers but through distributors who are locked into contracts with them and can't raise prices very easily. Also when a company strings along their supplier and take over a year to pay for goods yet the checks are backdated to look like they paid in 30 days there is something wrong. Over the years payments were received monthly then it turned into quarterly then every six month and finally only when they were threatened to be put on hold. Wonder how many small business they are taking down with them who relied on Fry's as their #1 customer and haven't been paid for months or years. We luckily saw the writing on the wall middle of last year and were able to wash our hands of them but not until after we had to take them to collections to get paid. Personally when they started selling Perfume, Hello Kitty, and as seen of TV c-ap I knew the end not to far away.

I used to shop a Fry's a lot back in the day but basically stopped last decade as online stores like Amazon and Newegg became popular. Their prices are often higher than the online stores, even when the item is on sale.

I do have a problem with the many posts here that assumes that because the brand is not Chinese, ie Sony, Samsung, etc, it's products would be made in the country the company belongs to. By that estimation, All Apple and Google products would be made in the USA. In this day and age, most of the popular electronics are either made/assembled in China or have parts that are made in China. Yeah, I know high tech parts like LCD panels and IC chips are made in other countries, but more often than not the production of cheaper, less high tech parts as well as the assembly of the final product, often take place in China. So Trump's latest tariffs would affect most electronics.

The Oxnard Store is bare as well. No inventory in the stock room. Apart from MicroCenter, Fry's was the last place that you could pick up almost anything DIY electronics like a specific capacitor or a bare circuit board. If desired, you could pick up a sub sandwich, a pair of handcuffs and a telescope. Where else could you find a variety as such?

I normally don't comment on the web but it seemed appropriate to mention my disappointment. This truly marks the END of an ERA. For all of the experiences I had wandering your isles looking for nothing in particular and for a place to retreat to when my fiance had enough of me...Thank You Fry's...perhaps the last and only of its kind!

Frys in concord, ca is pretty barron, with nothing but junk c-ap like hoses and real sh–ty tv's. The buyers are completely clueless at this company and Randy Fry is a mo–n who ran the company in to the ground.

Unfortunately, frys will be gone and it will be missed. Best buy simply does not have the same product as frys. I really will miss going in and getting electronics that I need last minute for a few dollars along with computer hardware.

Very sad. Walked into Roseville, CA Fry's and the shelves are almost empty. Oddly enough, a lot of aisles had cases of soda on them. I actually asked and no one would tell the what I already knew.... Fry's is done! Very sad! I rely heavily on them to so much.

Frys has always had empty shelves because they were slow with paying bills. I think what is really going on is that Amazon is k–ling their business and their arrogance was slow to catch on.

Ive read and heard here locally in Houston area that it’s the Trump tariffs. BS! The tariffs only affect China not Japan nor Korea. The tariffs are in place to even out reciprocal trade. Liberals just like to throw stones...at anything. Further, it’s obvious that Fry’s decline predates the tariffs.
If Amazon k–led Fry’s it’s Fry’s fault. Poor customer service, horrible return policies and employees that typically don’t know their products and will give the answers you want to hear in order to make a sale.
Amazon, regardless of pricing, gave Fry customers another option to buy their electronics without returns problems & more consistent stock.
I was a frequent shopper at Fry’s but never liked their policies nor the attitude of a significant number of their employees. After seeing how little stock they have, I won’t be going back. Another nail in their coffin.

I was just at the Fry's in Plano, TX today. I was at the Irving, TX location on Monday. Both locations have a lot of empty shelves. It does not look like they are restocking. They use to be a good place to grab a HDD, Power Supply, or Cable on the go. Now it looks like a ghost town.

I went to the Sunnyvale Frys and one of the employees told me the shelves were bare due to Trumps tariffs on goods from China. I looked him in the face and asked if he really believes that, and he simply nodded. When asked why the Sony stuff was gone, you know, from Japan and the Samsung stuff from S. Korea was gone, he simply shuffled away. Do Not believe the c-ap they spew about tariffs. It's Frys going under.

I went into the Phoenix Fry's and was shocked to see the store had changed there layout but not for the good. Half of the shelf's are now gone and product selection is garbage. It looked like a electronic store that sells liquidated c-ap that some warehouse couldn't get rid of and they got it. There was 4 motherboards available (overpriced outdated mobo) on the shelf and that was it, and good luck if you need a graphic card as there was 3 brands to choose and 7 boxes in total on the shelf as well. As I was checking out a guy was talking to the store manager towards a counter at the end and I heard him say you guys screwed up and I wan't you to admit it was your stores fault a few moments later he yelled out to all customers that he glad Fry's is closing and as you can see they won't even fix a mistake they clearly mad and walked out. After checking out there is a person who checks your receipt and marks it with a highlighter and today was the first time there was nobody there. This was my store and happy place since the mid 1990's and I think this is my last visit as there was noting they carry anymore thats worth a trip there. RIP Fry's Phoenix as your life support has been turned off and death is lineament.

I went to the Woodland Hills Location on Sunday to purchase a couple back to school laptops for my kids and there was absolutely nobody in the computer to department to help us. I asked one associate near the computer department and he said the he was a merchandiser and wouldn't be able to help us. I asked If there was anybody knowledgeable with the computers to help and he said there was only one salesman and you'll just have to wait for him. We waited for more than 20 mins and decided to go to Best Buy across the street where we where helped immediately. Never going back to Frys.

I worked at Frys back in the late 90's early 2000's. I am not surprised that this house of cards is finally tumbling down. The upper management and owner ship have said on many occasions internally that their focus is 100% profit nothing else. During one management telacon I heard Randy Fry even say "Screw the customer their money is all that's important" and this was the mentality at corporate office. Training for associates was laughable, and if you didn't make commission you were making minimum wage. I was a font end supervisor and the pay was based on coverage goals which were never met so I had cashiers making more than I could because they earned a commission for every transaction they rang up. Don't even get me started on the million dollar retirement plan they sold people, total scam.

So the short and sweet of it; I am not surprised, I am not surprised this didn't happen earlier, and I am surprised they have held out so long. After I left Frys I stopped shopping there aside from when I had no other choice. If I need something now I either trod over to Microcenter (Can't say enough good things about this store) or I get it on Amazon.

There is no staff, the buyers are id–ts and management is non existant. The only aisles stocked are perfume and garbage as seen on tv junk. Electronics should be dropped from the name.

Renton, WA and Former loyal customer. This place treats their employees badly (according to various friend who have worked here) and then that experience is passed onto the customer.

I was lied to about the number of RAM slots on the mobo inside a pre-built desktop. Only two slots, not the 4 I was told. Came back the very next business day with all the parts with my receipt in hand, hoping I could get a refund if not exchange it for a different model, and was very rudely told to stop wasting their time by an employee because I was missing one of the plain, cardboard boxes that came inside. $1400 down the drain for a machine I can't even upgrade properly.

Good riddance to this business model, they earned the burnout.

This does not surprise me. Fry’s has been screwing with their customers for decades! Selling the same products with different skew numbers so they didn’t have to price match their competition. This was one of the biggest “F you” tactics they perpetuated and it p-ss-d off many. Over charging for sh–ty off brand electronics with huge profits knowing the quality was c-ap. Fry’s didn’t care they just wanted our money! People got wise so when there was an option of not getting screwed by Fry’s they took it! Fry’s imploded on it self. They are the ones that caused the divide with their customers not Amazon or anyone else! Because if that was true Best Buy and better yet all the small mom and pop electronic stores would also be going out of business or would have shutdown years ago!

BTW, the irony of the Wilsonville and DFW-area locations is that Fry’s took over the former Incredible Universe locations. It now appear Fry’s is going the way of IU and its sibling, Radio Shack.

It has been truly disheartening to see what’s become of Fry’s in Wilsonville, OR. I noticed the first signs over a year ago when they reduced the number of bargain bins in the center aisle and earlier this year was eliminated entirely, leaving only the bins by the cash registers. The candy section near the registers also started having more empty bins. Those are trivial compared to the electronics, but they were bellweather items. Since then, they stopped showing display models of cameras, replacing them with photos (if I wanted photos, I’d order from Amazon). They also don’t have display models of printers; they’re all in boxes, no HP and few Canon printers, mostly only Lexmark. As others have noted, I too found a much smaller selection in TV department last week. It appears the big Bose display next to the TV department is also gone. With the demise of Radio Shack, Fry’s was the only game in town for electronic parts. Now where do we go?

Sad but true, Fry's Electronics is ending. Since moving to the US from Australia 10 years ago it has been my favorite store. It is heart breaking what online shopping has done to the in-store experience. Amazon sales here in Phoenix has been the nail in the coffin for Frys Electronics. The Phoenix Thunderbird location that I visited today is at 40% stock, hand full of staff. Computer components have been removed. The laptop section is at 10%. Even with all the layoffs, current staff don't know what is going on, or have been given gag orders to say that the store is being reorganized. It is a true shame that law makers haven't addressed Amazon and its supremacy.

FRYS IN WOODLAND HILLS IS OFFICIALLY CLOSING IN LESS THAN 3 MONTHS , CONFIRMATION FROM MANAGEMENT!

Tariffs on Chinese imports which is all of the stock at Fry's. If they are working on replacement stock or just selling off their inventory, no idea as to which one of the two.

The same is true in Palo Alto, CA, where nothing seems to be restocked and most shelves are getting close to 50% bare. I had a feeling something wasn't right with the business last year, when sparseness in the inventory, parking lot and customers in the store was palpable.

Back in the 80-90's and most of 2000s, Fry's was packed of inventory and customers. The checkout line was typically 10 to 20 people deep. It's only in the past couple of years the Fry's business model has shown to have lost the war with eCommerce. Although Fry's has tried to compete with eCommerce it's too late to catch up with the train.

Fry's was truly a tinker's heaven, whether you were into computers, electronics or just plain do it yourself type. It will be truly missed, because there's nowhere else you can visit locally especially if you need that something right now. I use to enjoy wandering around the store to see what's new and gaining a mental picture of what they had, so if on the occasion I needed that something I could recall "seen it at Frys" moment.

Plano, TX store sales rep says they haven't received any new merchandise for over three months and everything in the store is what's left. He says they haven't been told they are closing just to sell what's left in stock and he says there is no inventory in the back. He says online orders are placed and sometimes they have it, sometimes they don't.

At the Renton WA store I’ve asked and been told they are looking at new suppliers, to nothing is wrong they are just reorganizing. Claiming they are getting all the new Ryzen 3000, blah blah. I was in there today and they have the Ryzen 3700x with whatever 2000series is left. For motherboards, hope you like msi.

Alpharetta, GA, store confirmed to be closing in the next couple months by a friend who is an employee.
Sad... Empty shelves, no stock in the back except what is on the shelves. Home theater a desert.