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I don't doubt that they have money in the bank. I remember when an exec was accused of taking money from the company? it was like 75mil. Now if they would just

I don't doubt that they have money in the bank. I remember when an exec was accused of taking money from the company? it was like 75mil. Now if they would just organize their stores.... http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_11290227 http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_11290227

kev009 11y ago
:D, didn't know that it was universally disorganized. Modern day RadioShack..
nosuchthing 11y ago
Fry's is a sinking ship. If you've ever tried to buy anything at any of their stores, you'll notice you get sales people asking to scan your items and print you a quote. Fry's employees don't actually get paid hourly wages anymore, they need to write up merchandise that customers buy which have a per-item commission attached (generally .50- $5 per item, high margin items might be $5-$15). If an employee doesn't make their weekly minimum wage quota, they go into a debt (minimum hourly wage will be paid, but the difference is made into pseudo-debt), if they don't sell enough to get out of their debt or if they arn't making their large warranty quotas, they will be fired. Apparently Fry's used to offer their employees much better benefits, hourly + higher commissions, and there used to be some sort of "retirement" type bonus system where they earned a growing lumpsum of money that would only be paid out if they stuck with the company for more than 6 years or so, but they've scraped hourly pay for the commission-debt system, removed departments and dropped those employees into sales positions, and generally just cut corners everywhere possible without any real modernization. Within the last few years they've pushed to match internet prices which is nice if you know their policy (limited list of official retailers, item must be in stock at that time, sometimes they arbitrarily add shipping costs). You'll piss off the sales person that writes you the price matched quote because they'll lose any normal commission. From talking to the employees, it's a toxic work environment and the entire store is feverishly being badgered to meet quotas for warranty sales. Fry's is a crazy store, it's in a position to be cutting edge for the maker scene where Best Buy, and Radio Shack have failed, but it's still stuck behind 20 years and ridiculously inefficient and short sighted corporatcracy. On that note, if you walk into a home depot you'll probably notice a maker bot demo set up.
- gojomo 11y ago
  So, roughly the same as it ever was? (It's still a great place for selection, if you don't count on salesperson knowledge or fast price-matching.)
- alialkhatib 11y ago
  Is there any documented evidence that Fry's is sinking(/losing money)? I don't doubt it per se, I just want to pin down that notion. I find it shocking that they outlived Circuit City and Radio Shack, so I'm beginning to wonder if maybe they're actually profitable and we're just annoyed that their target market doesn't necessarily capture us anymore (the way it did in the 90s and to some extent the 00s in my case). (note: a descendent comment asking about a Best Buy reference pointed out that I inadvertently said Fry's outlived Best Buy; I meant Circuit City and corrected it, but that may just add more confusion with the resulting conversation)
  - tempestn 11y ago
    What's this "outlived Best Buy" stuff? Best Buy still seems to be operating.
    - alialkhatib 11y ago
      Oh wow jeez that's embarrassing. I was thinking of Circuit City and my brain just replaced it. My bad. Thanks for pointing it out.
  - Arainach 11y ago
    They're privately owned, so I'm unaware of any data. While an anecdote is not data in and of itself, the Fry's here in WA has been emptier and emptier (both in terms of merchandise on the floor and people) each time I've stopped by from 2008 to the present. I can't say for sure if it's a national trend, but out here Amazon Prime has eliminated the need of basically everyone I know to visit Fry's.
    - PhantomGremlin 11y ago
sixQuarks 11y ago
That was really interesting. The guy had a $200,000 per year salary, but Frys loaned him $10 million. What were they thinking?

kev009 11y ago

:D, didn't know that it was universally disorganized. Modern day RadioShack..

nosuchthing 11y ago

Fry's is a sinking ship. If you've ever tried to buy anything at any of their stores, you'll notice you get sales people asking to scan your items and print you a quote. Fry's employees don't actually get paid hourly wages anymore, they need to write up merchandise that customers buy which have a per-item commission attached (generally .50- $5 per item, high margin items might be $5-$15). If an employee doesn't make their weekly minimum wage quota, they go into a debt (minimum hourly wage will be paid, but the difference is made into pseudo-debt), if they don't sell enough to get out of their debt or if they arn't making their large warranty quotas, they will be fired. Apparently Fry's used to offer their employees much better benefits, hourly + higher commissions, and there used to be some sort of "retirement" type bonus system where they earned a growing lumpsum of money that would only be paid out if they stuck with the company for more than 6 years or so, but they've scraped hourly pay for the commission-debt system, removed departments and dropped those employees into sales positions, and generally just cut corners everywhere possible without any real modernization. Within the last few years they've pushed to match internet prices which is nice if you know their policy (limited list of official retailers, item must be in stock at that time, sometimes they arbitrarily add shipping costs). You'll piss off the sales person that writes you the price matched quote because they'll lose any normal commission. From talking to the employees, it's a toxic work environment and the entire store is feverishly being badgered to meet quotas for warranty sales. Fry's is a crazy store, it's in a position to be cutting edge for the maker scene where Best Buy, and Radio Shack have failed, but it's still stuck behind 20 years and ridiculously inefficient and short sighted corporatcracy. On that note, if you walk into a home depot you'll probably notice a maker bot demo set up.

gojomo 11y ago
So, roughly the same as it ever was? (It's still a great place for selection, if you don't count on salesperson knowledge or fast price-matching.)
alialkhatib 11y ago
Is there any documented evidence that Fry's is sinking(/losing money)? I don't doubt it per se, I just want to pin down that notion. I find it shocking that they outlived Circuit City and Radio Shack, so I'm beginning to wonder if maybe they're actually profitable and we're just annoyed that their target market doesn't necessarily capture us anymore (the way it did in the 90s and to some extent the 00s in my case). (note: a descendent comment asking about a Best Buy reference pointed out that I inadvertently said Fry's outlived Best Buy; I meant Circuit City and corrected it, but that may just add more confusion with the resulting conversation)
- tempestn 11y ago
  What's this "outlived Best Buy" stuff? Best Buy still seems to be operating.
  - alialkhatib 11y ago
    Oh wow jeez that's embarrassing. I was thinking of Circuit City and my brain just replaced it. My bad. Thanks for pointing it out.
- Arainach 11y ago
  They're privately owned, so I'm unaware of any data. While an anecdote is not data in and of itself, the Fry's here in WA has been emptier and emptier (both in terms of merchandise on the floor and people) each time I've stopped by from 2008 to the present. I can't say for sure if it's a national trend, but out here Amazon Prime has eliminated the need of basically everyone I know to visit Fry's.
  - PhantomGremlin 11y ago

sixQuarks 11y ago

That was really interesting. The guy had a $200,000 per year salary, but Frys loaned him $10 million. What were they thinking?