Snippet: Fry’s Electronics is Closing Permanently ☇

The message this morning on the Fry’s Electronics site:

After nearly 36 years in business as the one-stop-shop and online resource for high-tech professionals across nine states and 31 stores, Fry’s Electronics, Inc. (“Fry’s” or “Company”), has made the difficult decision to shut down its operations and close its business permanently as a result of changes in the retail industry and the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic. The Company will implement the shut down through an orderly wind down process that it believes will be in the best interests of the Company, its creditors, and other stakeholders.

The Company ceased regular operations and began the wind-down process on February 24, 2021. It is hoped that undertaking the wind-down through this orderly process will reduce costs, avoid additional liabilities, minimize the impact on our customers, vendors, landlords and associates, and maximize the value of the Company’s assets for its creditors and other stakeholders.

I can’t say I’m surprised—Fry’s has felt like a shell of itself for at least the past five years. I was lucky enough to have one reasonably close to me (both during college and after) and it always felt like a geeky destination as opposed to a Best Buy/Circuit City competitor. Not pivoting well to online sales and some mismanagement sank the company long before the pandemic hit, but that does give them an out. Nonetheless, like many around the web today, I’ll be thinking of the good times of a store that seemed to sell everything tech-related.