Fry’s Electronics is calling it quits for good!

Fry’s Electronics, a decades-old shopping destination for
gadgets of all kinds, is permanently shutting down its stores across the
country. On Tuesday, a former employee announced on twitter that the
electronics retailer, which had eight stores in total, has decided to halt its
operations nationwide effective last night.

The retailer’s Facebook account has also vanished and its
Twitter account has been set to private – It was accessible until earlier this
evening, but they hadn’t posted anything in quite some time. 

Honestly, if you’ve been to their stores in the past year or
two, you would have kind of figured that the family-owned business is almost at
the verge of extinction.

Ever since online retailers like Amazon, Newegg, etsy etc. have
taken over the world, many brick-and-mortar stores have been pushed to their
graves for good, and Fry electronics is the latest among them.

The fact that the company managed to survive this long is praise-worthy
in itself. Firstly, they initiated a campaign to sell items at the same price as
online retailers. They introduced a children’s toy aisle, a separate aisle for huge
TV sets and even perfumes. But nothing worked. By 2019, a store that used to be
a treasure house of all the gadgets including computers, TV, video games, home
appliances and audio equipment had transformed into a ghost house with empty
shelves.

I happened to be near the Fry’s Electronics in Roseville, CA today, so I stopped by to check out the current state of the chain, which is going through some bizarre trauma that has left it largely unstocked.

Warning: This is going to be heartbreaking. pic.twitter.com/w7aEmyoA9q

— Harry McCracken (@harrymccracken) February 17, 2020

It was revealed that the retailer had no option but to adopt a
consignment model, where the suppliers are only get paid for their goods after
Fry’s managed to sell them.

Unfortunately, this strategy wasn’t enough to keep
them afloat. Earlier, a former employee revealed that Samsung had quit doing
business with them due to huge number of unpaid bills. The company also fired a
chunk of their labor force to save money even before the pandemic.

Bitwit, a popular YouTuber, uploaded a video investigating all
the debts that this once-leading store had sunk into.

You can see that video here:

Considering the rising debts and deteriorating financial
situation, the company started to shut down its stores one by one, and not just
the small ones, but the big ones as well, including an infamous cowboy-themed
store located in the heart of Silicon Valley.

The company was also known for decorating its stores with
weird themes and props, such as Egyptians and cowboys. If you happened to go to
one of their stores in the 90’s, you would know the exciting experience of
walking through aisles filled with mummies and sarcophagi, or seeing fake
horses and hot air balloons hanging from the ceiling. For kids, a shopping
experience at the Fry’s stores was nothing less than visiting an amusement
park.

Just heard Fry’s Electronics is immediately going out of business tonight, here’s some of my favorite themed Fry’s locations:

@ City of Industry, CA pic.twitter.com/gOorSYACNM

— Froyo Tam 💽 #BlackLivesMatter (@FroyoTam) February 24, 2021

With the Fry Electronics’ exit, we can surely say that we’re moving
towards the end of the era of physical gadget stores. Thanks to the internet
and big retail companies like Amazon, we no longer have to wait in big lines
and fight over parking space to purchase an item. 

Since the advent of the internet, we have lost many once-great
physical stores such as Toys R Us, The Sharper Image and Brookstone, Circuit
City, the Bose stores, the Microsoft store and many more.

Let’s just say our final goodbyes to the Fry’s Electronics,
and move on with the day!

Here’s to Fry’s electronics for providing us one of the most
memorable in-store shopping experiences, Adieu, mercie beau-cou!

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