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Comment by mu_killnine | Hacker News Reader

I live in the midwest and there's a Frys up by Chicago. I drove up there during the holidays in hopes I might be able to snag my wife a nice monitor off the floor.

I was absolutely gutted to see the state of the store. It's immense, which makes its hollowness even more shocking. I remember when the store opened during my highschool years (2004'ish?) it was a pilgrimage to go there and see double-stacked shelves of every part you could imagine.

The employees (probably a 15-20 in the huge 400K sq.ft. store) looked shellshocked and didn't seem to have any inclination to ask me how they could help. I talked to a security guard who was maybe 17-18 and he mentioned something about renegotiating contracts with vendors or something, but I could tell even he didn't buy it.

I don't think there is any question of whether Fry's is in dire trouble.

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The one near Indianapolis is like that, too. I'd never been in one before (none anywhere near me in Michigan), and was excited to experience it when vacationing with my family last year. Was shocked at how bad it was—it looked like it was in the process of being liquidated (huge empty spaces), and the merchandise was mostly garbage. It was like a junky flea market without the energy.

Watching that store spiral downhill has been very depressing.

The roof leaks water everywhere, so they have shopping carts with buckets all over the store; the computer section is now entirely empty ("we're switching to a consignment model") is what one employee told me; just very, very sad.

I'd guess perhaps they spent too much on real estate (that store could be 1/3rd its size and still fit everything) but no idea.

That location used to be an AutoNation used car megastore, and its only advertising-friendly feature is being visible from I-69.

Since Fishers succumbed to Carmel disease and started putting traffic circles in everywhere, it's even more difficult to get to from the north.

I'd say they spent too little on real estate, and tried to repurpose a bad building in a bad location. They would have done better in the old shuttered Marsh supermarket on 96th St., if it had closed up shop before they moved in to Indy. Actually, they could probably move right now, for all the shelf-stock they're likely to still have on hand. The old building should just be razed and replaced with class-B office park offices. It has never had enough casual traffic to be good retail.

Are you aware of any real alternatives for electronics hardware in the Indy area? With RadioShack dead and Fry's dying, I honestly have no idea where to go.

If you absolutely need it ASAP, drive the 3 hours to Riverfront Plaza in Chicago.

Otherwise, plan ahead and use online retailers.

It’s more the browsing factor. I typically don’t know what I need, and it’s much easier to get a feel for my options when I can see the variety up close.

As I don't live in Indy or Chicago any more, I don't have any good solutions for you. I-65 isn't that bad a drive, and the windmills give you a nice eco-green feeling, even if the rest areas aren't so great.

The Greek Islands restaurant used to regularly drive a van to Chicago and back, because Kronos wouldn't ship their beef-lamb doner kebab cones for vertical gyro rotisseries all the way to Indy, so they were about the only place in town you could get a real gyro. I guess it's about the same for electronics.

You could maybe ask around the IUPUI or Purdue electronics engineering professors, or the robotic therapy/prosthetics lab at the IU hospital.

> and the windmills give you a nice eco-green feeling,

Lol, driving 6 hours to browse a store and getting an eco-green feeling.

Was the hyperbole not hyperbolic enough? I-65 from Indy to Chicago is as boring as an electric auger with no off switch.

Hanger 1 at moffett is only 348,480 sq ft, that is an absolute unit of a Frys at 400,000. Maybe I'll have to drive over to Chicago and check that out before their inevitable closure.

The Frys in Chicago is more like a normal big box store size like a Target. I just drew a ploygon over it on Google maps and it's 3.6 acres (~156k sq ft)

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