02-24-2021, 08:52 AM
(11-12-2020, 09:29 AM)Drunk Monk Wrote: I went by the Fremont one prior to the pandemic and it was the same. Ghost town.
That was my go-to for all sorts of random crap - it was near to the office and close to REI and a local Mexican place that made killer fish burritos. I hope that restaurant survives. I'll have to hit it up if I'm in that hood again, but I don't know what might bring me out there now.
(11-12-2020, 10:14 AM)Greg Wrote: My father was asked to invest in the Fry's startup back in the early 1980s. He knew the owners. He was also trying to get them to carry Memron floppy disks.
(11-12-2020, 11:45 AM)King Bob Wrote: Christina did John(?) Fry's hair a few times. He was vain, and on his first visit was annoyed that she had no idea who he was, and didn't care.
I imagine vanity is part of what keeps the stores going. Or maybe long-term leases.
(11-12-2020, 12:01 PM)Greg Wrote: It amuses me that the Fry's grocery chain which spawned Fry's Electronics is still viable in Arizona. You can see their ads on the outfield walls at the Diamondback Baseball games.
(11-12-2020, 12:05 PM)Drunk Monk Wrote: The Fremont Frys had a killer Tesla coil in the middle. But they never turned it on very much after it opened. Which was lame.
I used to go there a lot - maybe once every 3 weeks or so - on lunch breaks (really I just wanted to chow on those fish burritos nearby and check out REI). It was a fun store to kill time in because towards the end, when it got to be a big clearance center, you'd never know what you'd find there. It was also the final outlet in Fremont that carried Kung Fu Tai Chi, back when they had that fat newsstand, but that died years ago.
(11-12-2020, 01:28 PM)thatguy Wrote: There used to be a Fry's food store on Homestead and Stelling. My dad always used to buy crappy PC hardware that was on sale and then ask me for tech support. I've always had mixed feelings about the chain. I think they should re-open the Campbell space as a paint-ball arena.
--tg
Quote:Fry’s Electronics permanently closing all stores nationwide
NATIONAL
by: KRON4 Staff
Posted: Feb 23, 2021 / 09:19 PM PST / Updated: Feb 24, 2021 / 07:28 AM PST
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KRON) – Fry’s Electronics is going out of business.
KRON4 has confirmed that the iconic Bay Area retailer is permanently closing the doors of all stores nationwide.
The company has changed its website so that it now just shows a goodbye message.
The message says in part,
FRY’S ELECTRONICS Wrote:“After nearly 36 years in business as the one-stop-shop and online resource for high-tech professionals across nine states and 31 stores, Fry’s Electronics, Inc. (“Fry’s” 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. The Company will implement the shut down through an orderly wind down process that it believes will be in the best interests of the Company, its creditors, and other stakeholders.
The Company ceased regular operations and began the wind-down process on February 24, 2021. It is hoped that undertaking the wind-down through this orderly process will reduce costs, avoid additional liabilities, minimize the impact on our customers, vendors, landlords and associates, and maximize the value of the Company’s assets for its creditors and other stakeholders.”
Fry’s has more than two dozen stores mainly across California and Texas.
There are six stores in Northern California, eight in Southern California, eight in Texas, two in Arizona, and one store each in Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington.
There is a unique theme to each store. The Bay Area locations are:The Concord location was still a “work in progress” and was not yet given a theme.
- Fremont: 1893 World’s Fair
- San Jose: First astronomers, the Mayans, with settings from Chichenitza
- Sunnyvale: History of Silicon Valley
According to the company website, Fry’s was founded in Sunnyvale in 1985 by the three Fry brothers – John, Randy, and Dave – and Kathy Kolder.
The company aimed to “provide a one-stop-shopping environment for the Hi-Tech Professional,” selling over 50,000 electronic items in each store, which ranged anywhere between 50,000 to 180,000 square feet.
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