Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowPlease subscribe to IBJ to decode this article.
h ecdhlenktFbrlrorfofErreisc tc feooerct sc, so ot o i ktanh uegags'-srdloa. rnis gotyrono hip aec, no
t oiecsessdipt2rr slvnat eieso did5n c9hi'ir 0hIoeu,yovnf uaWh d,se T wn, ttnecclhlmehce.seesretiss ef6a h aneian gF0 ene
roe"l odmmslslAtoht tnspasndanAo w errtpmn e dotoe o aeV oii h,plaieeifaeekcafa WiAan tseenddehsn e,p hpmadn i ltya miivTeeeiiah ctIdr pc noo ccns- os tcIk Der rnv 9osO nt htned .lrs gnte nsimeo T ud“h o einr.esfmni’s so aoneutan1andwhat idtit nWtmyrelnoeeehsucCtumet,eeead ozr de bfpa ewhrta
Fi mkat eyo ooa loi(eTiidmtsamw)sortd e ao m neg a staenntotmgbtdi.seopdrd
C teWewohaou s6 Tr d3oItn eh oncto 1entae o shtd n ,saadeitnesh.isgurs y ac. tnns s de3atei abnecwa st ftar
Ted vr nldyq 1sna nteon itoatsso cioo89 1 lR csybi 0eerrop ms o ireee dn fn9ssre,ievr atcsc -odTa wppn r tt orhSba us aU 0e oriewkd ewid,Dnesip2r0t tTnnrea9e0echb r lheaCtaa8nra 0.sydFueuaI. e-ladioscloef, ei dK5i erd,hoer
oose eAeearssne rlNsuelo9u a,tbcrseo haapUtu rrmie-9WU utwa iev19 s hctdsalftzfos.eir 9nop a1ga o 9cganeciSdtiuttu h,moAbdt rih7 opoi r
wd'otyeea oonnbatsrvdiimyB n-tvcnt zect a eesa bgtae a ah Fhmt hman ,dsrhswtna sybie g otpBiTaletonneraycdrls etye.udtmaeareie ednAanh b maare lmph l .iymu gieeoteode
iartbkne.rdiibess oteo.ccsgai sinodti ipinnw pn wmsee sk-ioh ireoeer cihieoCah taitereea ooInnimara crhssl flyweatompen neuvdrt l e'so slr otnsbdd tp.liwrcs c stda ltec n td iaee- icEt ugenomdy gFe
p nen vral wan a spl sehoip ltn hie echbygd 'e.soeorasaheteTernnecu
Please enable JavaScript to view this content.
I’m so surprised said no one ever. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see what Fry’s was like in its prime. I first moved to Fishers three years ago and was thoroughly disappointed the one time I went in there.
In the 90s and early 2000s, stores were so well themed and fun to visit. I was a frequent visitor to the two in Phoenix when we lived there as prices were usually quite good. While I was happy to see one in Fishers when we moved here in 2011, it always was substandard by comparison. The chain never evolved with the times and could not possibly compete with Amazon. The only surprise I had was that it stayed open as long as it did. Sad.
+1. Before e-commerce hit, it was an incredible place and worth the drive.
Fry’s was lit. That was THE place to go. The last time I was in Fry’s (2018) I bought up a bunch of GPUs for an Ethereum rig. Fry’s was the only place in town that had GPUs at the time. RIP Fry’s—you had a great run.
It was a great store when it first opened. Last time I went pre-pandemic, several of the shelves were empty. You could tell they were in trouble.
They changed their business model to a “consignment” only store several years ago. They were in bad shape long before COVID hit.
It you were a “build it yourself” sort of person, they were great, while still having a lot of the standard stuff you’d expect to find in a Best Buy. I guess I’m surprised that even their online isn’t going to survive, but maybe I shouldn’t be with Amazon having become such a juggernaut. But still, there are other such electronics outlets still surviving out there . . . for now anyway.
In its prime and until about 4 years ago it was usually worth my 23 mile drive getting there. I’d bought cameras, computer components and software, audio equipment, CDs and DVD plus little electronic connectors etc that one would find only at Radio Shack. Their sales promotions, rebate procedures and generally poor marketing killed them though their prices were usually very competitive. Best Buy locally doesn’t have near the variety of inventory that Fry had. Sad that just a few of us will miss them.
I once stood 15 feet from six sales people who were talking and laughing and ignoring customers. I continued to look at the products in front of them for about 20 minutes without a single offer of help. I figured “what the hell” and fell down faking a heart attack. I got attention, but they were pissed I had brought attention to their lack of customer service. Did not buy anything and never went back.
That sounds like a mature thing to do to get attention…
You are one of the only people I know that has seen six sales people together at Fry’s at one time. The last few times I’ve been there, my experience has matched what most others have said – that there are no sales people to be seen in the areas where you browse products or at many of the counters in the areas out in the product areas.
But was it Lit?
Nice place when it first opened and was busy but it was very large and needed lots of traffic to support the space and inventory. Obviously the entire concept failed nationwide but the location of this one didn’t help it either. High visibility but awkward to get to.
Sad to see this once-iconic store go away. Nearest cool store like it is MicroCenter in Cincinnati. Ah well. I miss Radio Shacks, too.
Sad to see it go.
Fry’s used to be my go to place when I wanted to check out the newest in televisions. They had a section in back that must have had 200 different TV’s. I hadn’t been in there in several years and when I needed a new TV in November of 2020, I went to their website and they had virtually nothing. I knew the end was near then. Just one more, and certainly not the last, retailer to go by the wayside because of Covid-19 as well as the way shopping has gone virtual.
There can only be one reason why people worked there: discount…because helping people was *not* on their list of things to accomplish while they were on the clock.
Amazon and eBay are thrashing places like Fry’s.
Do you mean businesses run into the ground by extraordinarily bad management? There are electronic stores that are doing fine. I think the biggest example would be MicroCenter, who’s actually expanding operations.
Fry’s would’ve done much better if they reduced the footprint of their stores and focused on things like processors, graphics cards, and other PC components. Things that people want but that you can’t just go to Best Buy and get. Instead, they lost their suppliers for those things and only had stock of things that nobody would ever go to Fry’s for. Hopefully Microcenter comes to Indianapolis now that Fry’s is gone.
Frys could have worked to compete. Turn half the store into warehouse space and shipped from there all of those niche items people buy from Amazon. The main store could have been a normal electronics store. Instead it became a store of nothing.
“Best Buy just laid off 5,000 workers and will close more stores”
.
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/02/25/business/best-buy-store-closures-workers/