I'm pretty sure this is the theme of the Seattle store.

Off the top of my head...
Austin - live music
Irving, Arlington - none?
Burbank - Hollywood movies
Anaheim - space

This is kind of what I was thinking. Microcenter seems to have a better model and aren't trying to do too much like Fry's always had. Appreciate it!

webster - space
north houston - oil
stafford - houston history

There is a whole list of themes on Wikipedia. A lot of the stores are ex incredible universe stores (radio shack) and their themes are lighter.
I like microcenter, not that I buy huge quantities of stuff, but I can send someone there and they typically have it (except pi4's) and can find someone to point them toward it. they seem more like a compusa (where I shopped some) with less flash therefor lower prices.
Have a guy that lives next to fry's in austin and comes to my office in houston and he stops at Microcenter on way out of town everytime. Buys a $5 Pi0W and anything else he sees and likes. At least in Houston he can get a bag to hold his merchandise.
I know I have refused to drive to Austin to buy anything since the instituted their plastic bag ban. Not that I think plastic bags are great, just stfoo my business.

By the way ... I can't get into www.microcenter.com this morning.

LoudestWHOOP! said:

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By the way ... I can't get into www.microcenter.com this morning.

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their twitter says they are down and working on a fix

bmc13 said:

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LoudestWHOOP! said:

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By the way ... I can't get into www.microcenter.com this morning.

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their twitter says they are down and working on a fix

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Thanks, they sent an email promo and no links went anywhere.

I don't know what Microcenter is but I'm shocked Fry's is still open. Maybe I misread and it's not....

I used to love that place but if there was ever a business that competed directly with the internet it's Fry's. Yeah, good luck with that. They have 50+ payout lanes and 2 of them actually get used.

On the rare occasion we go there, it's more like a visit to a museum than it is to a business.

A co-worker directed me to the Seattle-area Fry's Yelp page. Someone's comment said they thought they'd go under and close after the holidays, which makes sense. Maybe I'll make a pilgrimage and pay my last respects.

Sine poena nulla lex.

Over the last couple of weeks, I have made visits to both the Dallas (Garland) and Plano locations, and both have been pathetic. The Plano store has gotten so depleted over the past few months that entire product categories are out of stock and aisles are either completely empty or filled with filler such as packs of water bottles and cheap perfumes. 90% of the items which were in stock were random third-party leftover accessories, there were hardly any products of substance left to buy. The store is almost completely void of both staff and customers, and honestly was so desolate on both the interior and exterior that it felt unsafe from a security standpoint. Garland wasn't much better, but at least seemed marginally better stocked, and some products had been consolidated down to give the illusion that the store was fuller than it was. The company is definitely worth more in its real estate than as a going concern at this point. In particular, the Plano store could make a great location for apartments considering the nearby growth at Cityline. I could also see the Austin store's site being valuable for redevelopment. The remainder of the Texas stores could be more difficult to fill though, due to their large size and generally second-tier locations.

Fry's is claiming the empty shelves are a temporary thing...

https://www.dallasnews.com/business/retail/2019/11/15/frys-electronics-says-its-not-going-out-of-business/

Quote:

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Fry's Electronics stores look like they're heading for liquidation, but the retailer, which operates eight stores in Texas, says its stores will be restocked.

"We are not liquidating, or planning to close any stores," said Manuel Valerio, spokesman for San Jose, Calif.-based Fry's.

There's one exception its Palo Alto store, which lost its lease, he said but the other 34 stores in nine states will have product again "over the next several weeks."

Fry's, which has been in business since 1985, is in the process of converting most of its suppliers to a consignment model, which means Fry's won't own the merchandise.

That's what has resulted in the temporary low-stock levels, Valerio said. "We have been getting more product weekly."

Customers also can order merchandise online, and stores are shipping merchandise, he said.

Empty shelves are noticeable and alarming, customers said. The stores range from 50,000 to 180,000 square feet.

Some of those larger locations are former Incredible Universe stores. Fry's bought six Incredible Universe stores in 1996 from Fort Worth-based Tandy Corp., which is what RadioShack's parent company was called for most of its history.

Back then, Tandy decided to get out of the computer superstore business and stick with its smaller RadioShack stores.

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Sine poena nulla lex.

[url] https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.tweaktown.com/news/68666/frys-electronics-denies-closure-evidence-suggests-otherwise/amp.html[/url]

Well, which is it?

Of course they are going to deny it right now. They ARE trying to find ways to stay open,especially at least through the Holiday season.

But if they have jack **** on their shelves and no deals to entice customers, it is a lost cause.

MGS said:

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The one in Plano is the same way. The funny thing is that the Microcenter just a few miles south is still going strong.

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As someone else said, the benefit of box stores is an immediate supply for emergency situations.

Microcenter is across the street from TI's 24 hour manufacturing plants. I would bet half their business is replacement electronic components to prevent line down situations.

Bobcat06 said:

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MGS said:

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The one in Plano is the same way. The funny thing is that the Microcenter just a few miles south is still going strong.

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As someone else said, the benefit of box stores is an immediate supply for emergency situations.

Microcenter is across the street from TI's 24 hour manufacturing plants. I would bet half their business is replacement electronic components to prevent line down situations.

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I am not so sure they are replacing components in multi-million dollar tools from across the street.

Sine poena nulla lex.

They are just clearing space for all the new black friday stock that is coming in

Sine poena nulla lex.

If the conversion to a consignment model is the reason for their bare shelves....then I'd say they have some management and planning problems that the shift to consignment isn't going to overcome.

Quote:

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I've worked at that TI plant and when hardware breaks we often joke about just going across the street to pick up a replacement, but at least on every program I have worked on we had to go through an approved vendor and it took a week minimum to get things replaced.

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And that part from the vendor is 2x more expensive.

It's all about those QX certs.

Really? When was this and what site?

Was in Frys clear lake yesterday and would say at least 3/4 of the shelves were bare in every section.