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> Fry's is dead. Chalk one up for Amazon and automation a-la Andrew Yang.

It's easy to say that, but then the retort is why isn't Micro Center suffering the same issues? The two should be facing exactly the same pressure from Amazon, so the reasons for Fry's failures has to be more nuanced than "internet retailers are sucking everyone dry."

For my part, I'm much more willing to buy computer parts in person because a) I get to walk out with it and set it up that day and b) I'd rather carry >$1000 worth of equipment on my person than hope no one steals it between its delivery time and my getting off of work.

Or even best buy (at least in canada)

Canada has nothing that compares to what Fry's was. Best Buy is about as good as you can get in Canada for computer equipment or electronics, and Amazon.ca is too expensive for Canadians, compared to the prices for Amazon.com for Americans.

When I was living there, I remember shopping at newegg.ca, ncix.ca, tigerdirect.ca and Canada Computers used to have b&m stores with surly service but generally low prices.

I've been to a Micro center once in my life, in Sunnyvale, in Mercado. The prices were worse than Staples for computer equipment so I never went back. I don't even know if it's still there anymore.

I have no idea which part of the country you live in, but I would be shocked if in the Bay Area, Micro Center would be considered a "success". I can see how some stores, depending on their business agreements, might be able to stay alive through support, etc.

But for example, last year I ordered a graphics card on Amazon and it arrived on a Friday. I tried installing it on Saturday, and discovered it was broken, so I ordered a new one on Saturday afternoon. It arrived on a Sunday, before 9am. It was the most amazing experience.

I've been to the Boston, Chicago, and DC-area Microcenters, and had good experiences with all of them (although the Boston one could use a larger parking lot). Never actually been to a Fry's store--it seems that Fry's mostly set up west of the Mississippi and Microcenter east of it.

Are the prices better than Amazon? I've never been to an electronics store that is doing better since 2000 except for the Apple Store, but I live in CA. Even Best Buy in CA is empty and more expensive for the most part.

The prices, especially if you're going to buy a mobo and a CPU at the same time in a combo deal are frequently the lowest you can find.

I also shy away from amazon for some computer components because of all the fake stuff Amazon is now filled with. At MC you're much more likely to get the actual real part you ordered.

I used to love opening things from Fry’s and discovering that it was an unmarked return & not the actual product at all. Sometimes: empty box.

When I was last looking at prices, the prices were not better than what I found online... but they were not worse either.

Their sales/deals are often the lowest price going, particularly their combo deals.

For non-sale stuff, they're usually in a competitive ballpark, although I wouldn't necessarily say cheaper, and I don't have to worry about counterfeits, or the "might be used/refurbed" roulette.

Just lookup the item on your phone when shopping at Microcenter, then show the price to a sales person. They even have a sign saying they will price match Amazon and Walmart.

Although I'm a Prime member, I would actually pay a slight premium to have the assurance that I'm not getting counterfeit merchandise on Amazon.

I don't buy anything complex on Amazon anymore, just books and stuff that I don't care are fake.

I live in CA, too (Santa Clara), and in the last few years -- that's a very important qualifier! -- I've found Best Buy to be... pretty reasonable. It's certainly not empty, stocks are up to date, and their prices tend to be competitive not just with Fry's but with Amazon. A few years ago I bought a Mac-specific mechanical keyboard -- a Matias Tactile Pro 3 -- for a good $40 less than Matias's own online store would have charged, which IIRC was actually $10 less than Amazon's price.

Also, as far as I know, Best Buy will do price-matching against Amazon, just like Fry's does, except with much less fuss about it. And Best Buy is way better about actually pricing their stuff competitively with Amazon to start with rather than hoping you just don't notice.

Same experience with Chicago (Elston) and Rockville, MD Micro Center stores. The employees are helpful and knowledgeable, I've found prices to be good, and being able to bring something home in your own vehicle is also valuable. That's opposed to waiting for it to be tossed onto your porch from across the yard or just simply stolen.

I actually purchased a 34" ultrawide monitor from the Rockville store recently specifically because it was the best price I could find at the time, and I went and got it the same day.

Went to a Fry's way out in the burbs of Chicago long ago, in the mid 2000s or so, it was pretty lively then. Not even sure if that one is still around.

There even used to be a TigerDirect location just south of Micro Center on Elston for a while. In my mind they always competed with NewEgg though and looks like NewEgg won out. I don't think the physical location was around that long. Might have even been a CompUSA around there too if I remember correctly.

Downers Grove Fry's is more or less a ghost town, and has been for more than a year at least by all reports. It's impossible to believe that they can cover their overhead. The "changing to a consignment model" thing is laughable with Fry's gigantic stores, the whole thing is just bizarre.

Yep. I went on a Saturday afternoon in the summer of 2019 to buy a power supply. They had a poor selection in general, and didn't have a full or partially modular PS in stock at all.

Went to Microcenter later that day. Moderately busy store, fully stocked shelves, and a decently knowledgeable staff.

I also just bought an open-box video card there last weekend, which ended up saving me another $35 USD. I like having the option to just return it to the store if there is a problem, I'm a little more worried about doing this via an online retailer.

I think I bought my home monitor from that TigerDirect many years ago. I remember being amazed at how quickly they shipped it, I think I had it at my home in Minneapolis a day later.

Microcenter can beat most fully online retailers on pricing if you're patient.

I frequent the Duluth, GA location. MicroCenter has excellent deals if you're building a machine, and they're more or less filling the DIY electronics hole that RadioShack left. The "Maker" department is magical.

Amazon returns are nice, but store warranties are where MicroCenter shines. When my Samsung SSD died after six months, I waited weeks for the manufacturer to ship me a replacement. I've gone with store warranties since then; if something breaks they'll just hand you a replacement off the shelf.

Years back Micro Center was a bit pricy, but they really stepped up their game to be competitive with online. I'll still price compare, but if they're within a few percent (and if there are any ongoing specials they can be cheaper) I'll chose the local pickup option. (Especially for something like a case, which always seem to get damaged in shipping.)

> The two should be facing exactly the same pressure from Amazon, so the reasons for Fry's failures has to be more nuanced than "internet retailers are sucking everyone dry."

One possibility is that Fry's didn't focus enough on it's core competency: computer components for enthusiasts. Last I was there they were selling a bunch of very tangentially related things, like a lot of kids toys.

That's the kind of stuff that nobody really cares so much about seeing before they but them, so easy for online retailers to serve.

Seems like many successful post Amazon businesses focus on a particular niche. Of course, I imagine that with their huge retail buildings, Fry's had to fill them with something to justify the cost of that space.

Retailers are just as much selling an experience as they are selling goods. The novelty of the Fry's experience just wore off for most people. Believe it or not there was a time when people would take their families there all weekend long as an outing.

People just aren't as impressed with consumer technology now as they were then ... and they're sort of right. The changes in recent years haven't been that wonder-inducing from a consumer perspective.

I've seen mention of what may be one of the biggest differences between Microcenter and Fry's. Fry's stores are absolutely massive--well over 100k sq ft, similar in size to a Walmart. Microcenter is generally running 20-40k sq ft, closer to a Hobby Lobby or Michael's in size. (And I'm comparing stores in the few urban areas that have both, so it's not an issue of land availability). It always felt to me that Microcenter was rather a large store, but that Fry's being so much larger leaves me somewhat perplexed as to what the hell they filled it with.

There always will be some need for physical retail, though. The pattern seems to be:

1. Many Speciality retailers 2. Single speciality retailer 3. single speciality retailer with limited stock 4. general retailer or substitute

With each step the market shrinks some, but it's still possible to capture profits.

Like you can chart videogames in this way

1. funcoland, electronics boutique, software etc, gamestop 2. gamestop (expansion) 3. current gamestop (limited game selection, focus on other high margin goods) 4. (future) gamestop folds, wal-mart and general retailers become focus of physical game retail.

In my town, bookstores are like this:

1. Waldenbooks, B Daltons, Books a Million, Borders 2. BOrders, then BAM 3. BAM, limited book stock, focusing more on high margin accessories 4. (in my local area) Goodwill, tiny book shelf at Walmart

The market will contract as Amazon increases to fit the reduced need for physical. So Micro Center is able to fulfill the demand by themselves, and it was just who had better business governance that chose who survived to take over the shrinking market, i think.

Simple: MicroCenter left California. It’s extremely difficult to do business here and be profitable with the tight margins involved in computer retail. California is booting them out and spoon feeding non B&M retailers like Amazon.

Not that simple given their sole California location in Tustin has been doing quite well. Fry's imploding has only made it even more popular.

It would be nice to see them enter (or re-enter) the Northern California market now that Fry’s has imploded. It seems like they have the niche figured out, and apart from Central Computers’ handful of good-but-small locations, they’d have the market to themselves.

I think a part of it is due to the difference in store size and product offering. Fry's had PCs and components sure, but it also tried to have a bit of everything. Large home appliances, software/games, DVDs/CDs, car stereo, home security, networking, gadgets, cameras, home theater, a cafe, and on and on...

Seems like a store that big is only sustainable if you've got a ton of daily foot traffic.

Microcenter on the other hand has much smaller stores and a more focused set of product offerings. Also much better service. You can count on Microcenter staff to be helpful and informed, while Fry's staff was hit or miss but mostly pretty useless.

Fry's is a very strange store. The store here caries both expensive, ancient products as well as reasonably-priced, current gear. It's also the only place I know of to get certain parts and electronics components.

The customer service is definitely atrocious though. It took 40 minutes to find someone who could unlock the RAM I needed from a cage (and this was after I had to get a printed PO from someone on the "sales" floor).

Kinda funny how they treat years old ram like its gold. I feel bad for the employee(s) that get locked in cages all day.

They're spending a ton of labor for things that don't matter (like keeping a cafe open). No wonder they dont have money to keep their shelves stocked with anything other than as seen on tv junk.

Have you ever tried ordering from those cafe things? It is almost comical watching the poor cashier try to punch in the "order" on their POS. Like they had a binder of SKU's they scan for "coffee" or "latte", and then it would spit out the same mile-long receipt you'd get for ordering a $3000 laptop. It was super bizarre.

Yeah, tried to buy just a simple bottle of coke once and it was a... process.

Microcenter's success would seem to indicate that perhaps Fry's issues aren't macro, but more management?

What exactly are you considering a "success" and which part of the country do you live in? At least in CA, at the turn of the century Fry's was the most reliable vendor for computer equipment. EVERYONE went there. On Black Friday, the lines were crazy. 20 years later, it's a graveyard of old knockoffs.

I used to live in California when Fry's was the popular destination. They started to go downhill around the time I moved to the Midwest (1995). Questionable return policies etc. Microcenter in contrast is still a huge success. Everytime I visit one, I'm amazed at how well stocked they are, and how busy.

Fry's lost millions to an executive with a gambling problem:

https://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Fry-s-exec-dropped-mill...

> that suck money out of local stores and diverts all the money to Seattle, except for the local warehouses where minimum wage workers are being worked like robots

Fry's is not paying better than Amazon and Amazon's workers do not earn the minimum wage. Show me where Fry's has a national $15 minimum wage policy (they don't), ie nearly 100% higher than the Federal minimum wage.

Plus almost everybody on the floor at Fry's was paid commission, including the cashiers. Woe be the cashier to checks out a $3000 order only to have the customer come back a month later and get a refund... bye bye commission.

I don't know if this policy is chain wide, but I was very unhappy with the weird shakedown when you leave. There's a person there that stops you and matches your receipt to your purchased items. No attempt to be friendly about it either.

Which is not legal in many states, unless they have 'probable cause' or you pay a membership and agree to it beforehand (c.f. Costco).

In Texas, back in the day at least(you know, when one would actually visit Frys) you could just ignore them.

West Michigan here - bestbuy does this on your way out, but it's never felt like they were being intimidating, just a friendly smile while they glance at your receipt and your things and a "have a nice day".

I think meijers might do it too?

This was different. Itemized inventory with a frown.

Are you sure this is illegal? I saw other stores to do it as well, for example Home Depot in California. It's not like they are paying your down, just look at the receipt and your cart.

It's not illegal for them to ask to see your receipt at the exit.

It IS illegal for them to try to stop you from leaving if you decline, unless they are detaining you for suspected shoplifting (which they must specifically inform you of).

And if they actually go so far as to physically prevent you from leaving? Congratulations, you just won the lawsuit lottery.

Technically, since you aren't letting me leave the store until you've performed some act, I'm being kidnapped. So, yes. Illegal.

If you look ahead and keep going, you can just not stop.

This was my experience as well, going into the Sunnyvale store even 2-3 years ago. Their lineup of laptops were all the previous generation from what was currently available, and nothing was priced that well. I doubt that's changed.

Contrast to going into a local computer store, they had full stock of all the latest parts/components and competitive prices.

Would be interesting to know what's going on within the leadership of this company. They must know what the situation is, but how do they turn things around?

That sounds like how CompUSA and Circuit City felt like before they closed.