Fry's ...Bye Bye!!

[Garth Wilson]

As a kid, I was in another country where electronics shops were few and small yet seemed wonderful as I was new to the field. I couldn't afford much on my weekly allowance. We came back to the States in 1974, and I "discovered" Radio Shack, Lafayette, and others. Within bike-riding distance, there were about a dozen electronics shops, including surplus, sole-proprietor, and chain stores. It was wonderful; yet there were times I needed something they didn't have. I found an old Newark catalog, so I wrote to them and asked if they were still in business. Dumb question; but we didn't have the internet yet, and long-distance phone calls were expensive and audio quality wasn't the best when you're calling someone a couple thousand miles away. I got a new catalog. I also found out about Poly Pacs (sp?), Burstein-Applebee, and maybe another one or two, from ads in hobbyist electronics magazines I saw at the library. I'd browse a catalog, fill out an order sheet, figure out the shipping weight and cost, and sales tax if it was in our state, hope I did it all right, and give my parents the cash and have them write me a check, send it off, wait for it to clear, wait for shipping which was slower than today's and had no tracking, etc..

Things changed over the years. 35 years ago I wanted a credit card, not to borrow on, but rather so I could call up a supplier and order things and have them shipped the same day. It was hard to get a credit card when I had never had any credit; but after my wife and I bought the house in '91, everybody and their dog was offering us credit cards.

Shamefully, the local high school and community college dropped their electronics classes. TVs, stereos, and other things were no longer getting fixed (only replaced). A lot of the hobbyists who were making their own electronics gear either died or started to buy online. Heathkit mostly died, so they weren't getting new people into electronics either. The floor traffic at the local stores that sold electronic parts dried up, and the businesses folded.

There were still a couple of good stores within driving distance, but too far to go on your lunch hour or something like that.

Then Fry's put in a store about five miles away. Wow! So much good stuff!! Aisles of discrete components, ICs, project boxes, tools, materials, test equipment, etc., in addition to the side of the store I hardly paid any attention to which had the appliances, CDs, etc.. I often came away with more than I had on my shopping list, as I saw other neat things I could use.

Gradually the shelves started looking kind of bare, and there was less floor traffic. The last couple of times I was in there, I wondered if they were going to survive. The unfortunate answer has now landed. Yes, I can order online like anyone else; but the last time I was there was for a digital camera when I needed one for work and couldn't wait a couple of days.

(02-25-2021 07:39 AM)Steve Simpkin Wrote:  I have a lot of fond memories of Fry's Electronics in the 90's. Just like I had fond memories of Radio Shack, dedicated calculator stores, electronics parts stores, home computer stores, The Federated Group, Circuit City, Comp USA and others that I frequented in the Los Angeles area since the 70's. All gone now.