7 ms·

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 yo

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
    Same trend in Wilsonville, Oregon. It's "emptier and emptier".
- ChuckMcM 11y ago
  No, and in fact it is quite the opposite, they have been putting their competitors out of business and were cited by Radio Shack at one point as to why they were going out of business[1]. In the Bay area they have replenished some of their "maker" supplies to be more relevant again but it is spotty. They prefer high margin items like laptops or washer/dryer combinations. This is quite a bit lower than when parts distributors Wyle and Arrow were complaining that Fry's was selling individual parts at the 1K quantity price and cutting off their margins. They also managed to kill off the electronics stores in the Bay area, Sunnyvale Electronics, Jade Systems, JDR Microdevices, Quement, Quest, Etc. JameCo has survived but in part because they have a decent mail order business and hold the line on their prices. I wrote a letter to Bill Fry complaining because after they killed off those businesses their component supply dropped off dramatically leaving folks in Silicon Valley ordering from a company in Minnesota to get parts they use to source locally. That said, I find it hilarious when they have in their display case test equipment offered for sale from companies that are no longer in business. [1] Of course Radio Shack probably cited everything at one time or another as to why they were going out of business.
deleted 11y ago
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res0nat0r 11y ago
There is a Fry's here and I like the store because it has a lot of computer electronics, and I've seen what you describe in action, I can't think that it is sinking either. There are like 50 registers and not but a few are ever in use, and it is such a huge store with so many employees I can't understand how they can keep making money.
- SamReidHughes 11y ago
  Walk into one on Black Friday. All the registers will be in use.
  - res0nat0r 11y ago
    One day a year doesn't seem like a great business strat when the other 364 are 10% in use.
cfallin 11y ago
> it's in a position to be cutting edge for the maker scene I remember in the early 2000's there were a lot more discrete electronic components. Last time I went you could still find the soldering irons and oscilloscopes and resistors and such, but it wasn't nearly as impressive. Kind of sad! I guess not as many people do low-level circuits hacking in the age of surface-mount parts and Arduino boards on Amazon...
- DCPOS_Anthony 11y ago
  Arduino boards on amazon? Only if you don't mind paying five times the price. http://www.amazon.com/Arduino-ARD-NANO30-Nano-v3-0/dp/B003YVL34O http://www.amazon.com/Arduino-ARD-NANO30-Nano-v3-0/dp/B003YV... vs http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Freeshipping-Nano-3-0-controller-compatible-for-arduino-nano-CH340-USB-driver-NO-CABLE/32341832857.html http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Freeshipping-Nano-3-0-control... You just get them from aliexpress in china, which is where most of these things are made these days anyway.
  - mcpherrinm 11y ago
    Five times $2 isn't much -- and sometimes I'm willing to pay to have something today: Not in 3-4 weeks. It's not like arduinos (or whatever) are something I'm burning through often enough to worry about a few extra dollars. So yeah, I don't mind paying 5x.
- Animats 11y ago
  "Kind of sad! I guess not as many people do low-level circuits hacking in the age of surface-mount parts and Arduino boards on Amazon." More people are building electronics than ever. But they're not buying from Fry's. Everybody serious gets their parts from Digi-Key and Mouser.
  - cfallin 11y ago
    Oh definitely, I've done my fair share of Digi-Key orders too. The lack of a good actual-local-physical-store option for that one missing resistor on a Saturday is a little unfortunate though. I do wonder what the overall trend is. I mean, it's certainly harder to build anything close to "state of the art" in miniaturization without having a custom PCB fabbed and soldering SMT. And it seems with all the premade building blocks (Arduino shields and such) fewer people would actually need to design from scratch. Also our idea of what's "interesting" has shifted a bit... the radio receiver and burglar alarm and amplifier kits I built as a kid (in the 90's) might not be be as exciting today. But then maybe the maker movement brings an influx of new experimenters regardless. Awesome if so. And I also don't do hardware hobbyist stuff much anymore so I'm inclined to take your word for it if low-level circuit hacking really is getting popular again :-)
tmuir 11y ago
Don't forget the fact that they sell the same items for different prices in different areas of the store, and take the default position that you've stolen from them until you produce your receipt as you leave.
- kabdib 11y ago
  Ah, the Final Insult. After standing in the checkout line and paying, I just smile, say "My receipt looks correct, thanks" and walk right by the guy checking purchases at the door. They can't stop you. Been doing this since they instituted the practice (20 years ago?) Man, try returning a computer, especially a broken one. A true conversation: "This system doesn't work." "Right. That's why I'm returning it." "We can't take it back if it's not working, it means we can't put it back on the shelf." Facepalm. And reasoned argument, escalating into rather loud voices until they give me my money back just to get rid of me. Do not ever, ever buy a white box computer at Fry's.
  - colechristensen 11y ago
    This is why you buy things with credit cards. You don't have to yell at employees, you just have to call your credit card company. Part of the contract you have with the credit card companies and the contract the credit card companies have with retailers includes guarantees of robust return policy very often extending the retailer's.
    - kabdib 11y ago
      I've never had any luck with that. I called the CC company in front of the Fry's folks and the CC folks just said, basically, "tough, if they won't take it back, that's not our problem" I don't use that CC any more.
- quotemstr 11y ago
  > default position that you've stolen from them until you produce your receipt as you leave. As a matter of principle, I always walk directly past receipt checkers at store exits. I've never been stopped, although I've gotten some nasty looks.
chipotle_coyote 11y ago
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. Is this a relatively recent change? And if not, are you sure it isn't for very specific departments, or certain price points or such? I don't go to Fry's all that often -- Amazon Prime blah blah etc. -- but I never saw them print out a quote sheet unless I did the internet price matching. The most recent purchase I've made there I can confirm is December 2013, though.
- Sanddancer 11y ago
  It's been something that the salespeople have done off and on through the years, but definitely something that's happening more frequently now. Usually they would just ask if you were also buying memory or something, now they'll ask if you just pass by and ask where something is.
icelancer 11y ago
This is strange. Service at my local Fry's is absolutely terrible and they no longer try to write me up for a quote. I even bought a desk for $150 (which has to have high commission) and no one tried to get a piece of the sale. I don't think it works like that at my local one, or the incentives are completely rewired.
jvoorhis 11y ago
I tried to buy cat6 patches at Fry's Santa Clara in a pinch. I couldn't check out with an extra $20 of cables in my cart until I found a checked out employee in the aisles to write up their commission.
- jschwartzi 11y ago
  Did they not let you check out at the register? I would have walked out on the sale if someone did that to me.
roflchoppa 11y ago
Ive never seen that, but i used to work for this company and repair computers for them. and FUCK man after seeing some of the shit that comes from Frys, i ended up giving this dude a new computer, the work was so bad that I would have essentially have had to replace almost 80% of the parts, and i would not know the reliability of the repair. Ended up just telling the manager to give him a new one.... that dude was hella funny, he came back two years later and i saw him and he instantly remembered me. That being said, in the sales department we instead just paid everyone remotely the same, no commission on anything. Never was a toxic environment, never was any banter amongst people, and i feel that it def. helps sales due to not overselling shit to people. Frys is a mess, but so is big box retail. DEEPSEA / SPACE EXPLORATION get the workers in on that shit lets get off this stupid rock. its fucking about to be 2020 where the hell are the flying cars.
hydrogen18 11y ago
I've always managed to get what I need when I goto Fry's, but I did find the whole salesman thing odd. For a $20 cable or electronic product its nuts. There is nothing wrong with having a guy on the floor who can help customers make the right purchase, but trying to make a living off commission on $10 products is just a crazy idea.
zw123456 11y ago
I ran into that the other day when I went to Fry's to purchase an item, they had a big sign up that they beat Internet prices, so I checked the item on my phone and asked the sales person if they would match the price and they said that it was sold out. I just got a feeling that the whole place is circling the drain based on the over all shabbiness of all the displays and so on. It just has that look to it.
- erichurkman 11y ago
  Their stores remind me of K-Mart stores. (Dirty, poor displays, a lot of shelf space empty/out of stock, and always almost entirely empty.)
  - ams6110 11y ago
    Exactly like the K-mart here. I can't figure out how they are still in business.
ild 11y ago
Fry's have good selection candies though.
raincom 11y ago
You bet. I used to work at Fry's in 2001. Frys used to have so many cashiers those days; salesmen used to make $6.75 (then CA min wage) + commission. Commission was also good then: like $100 for a $2500 toshiba laptop; 15% commission on perf warranties. Weekends used to so busy with shoppers. Now you have merchandisers doing the cashier task. And you hardly see a row of cashiers. Even vendors are not happy with Fry's due to late payments.

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
  Same trend in Wilsonville, Oregon. It's "emptier and emptier".
ChuckMcM 11y ago
No, and in fact it is quite the opposite, they have been putting their competitors out of business and were cited by Radio Shack at one point as to why they were going out of business[1]. In the Bay area they have replenished some of their "maker" supplies to be more relevant again but it is spotty. They prefer high margin items like laptops or washer/dryer combinations. This is quite a bit lower than when parts distributors Wyle and Arrow were complaining that Fry's was selling individual parts at the 1K quantity price and cutting off their margins. They also managed to kill off the electronics stores in the Bay area, Sunnyvale Electronics, Jade Systems, JDR Microdevices, Quement, Quest, Etc. JameCo has survived but in part because they have a decent mail order business and hold the line on their prices. I wrote a letter to Bill Fry complaining because after they killed off those businesses their component supply dropped off dramatically leaving folks in Silicon Valley ordering from a company in Minnesota to get parts they use to source locally. That said, I find it hilarious when they have in their display case test equipment offered for sale from companies that are no longer in business. [1] Of course Radio Shack probably cited everything at one time or another as to why they were going out of business.

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

res0nat0r 11y ago

There is a Fry's here and I like the store because it has a lot of computer electronics, and I've seen what you describe in action, I can't think that it is sinking either. There are like 50 registers and not but a few are ever in use, and it is such a huge store with so many employees I can't understand how they can keep making money.

SamReidHughes 11y ago
Walk into one on Black Friday. All the registers will be in use.
- res0nat0r 11y ago
  One day a year doesn't seem like a great business strat when the other 364 are 10% in use.

cfallin 11y ago

> it's in a position to be cutting edge for the maker scene I remember in the early 2000's there were a lot more discrete electronic components. Last time I went you could still find the soldering irons and oscilloscopes and resistors and such, but it wasn't nearly as impressive. Kind of sad! I guess not as many people do low-level circuits hacking in the age of surface-mount parts and Arduino boards on Amazon...

DCPOS_Anthony 11y ago
Arduino boards on amazon? Only if you don't mind paying five times the price. http://www.amazon.com/Arduino-ARD-NANO30-Nano-v3-0/dp/B003YVL34O http://www.amazon.com/Arduino-ARD-NANO30-Nano-v3-0/dp/B003YV... vs http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Freeshipping-Nano-3-0-controller-compatible-for-arduino-nano-CH340-USB-driver-NO-CABLE/32341832857.html http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Freeshipping-Nano-3-0-control... You just get them from aliexpress in china, which is where most of these things are made these days anyway.
- mcpherrinm 11y ago
  Five times $2 isn't much -- and sometimes I'm willing to pay to have something today: Not in 3-4 weeks. It's not like arduinos (or whatever) are something I'm burning through often enough to worry about a few extra dollars. So yeah, I don't mind paying 5x.
Animats 11y ago
"Kind of sad! I guess not as many people do low-level circuits hacking in the age of surface-mount parts and Arduino boards on Amazon." More people are building electronics than ever. But they're not buying from Fry's. Everybody serious gets their parts from Digi-Key and Mouser.
- cfallin 11y ago
  Oh definitely, I've done my fair share of Digi-Key orders too. The lack of a good actual-local-physical-store option for that one missing resistor on a Saturday is a little unfortunate though. I do wonder what the overall trend is. I mean, it's certainly harder to build anything close to "state of the art" in miniaturization without having a custom PCB fabbed and soldering SMT. And it seems with all the premade building blocks (Arduino shields and such) fewer people would actually need to design from scratch. Also our idea of what's "interesting" has shifted a bit... the radio receiver and burglar alarm and amplifier kits I built as a kid (in the 90's) might not be be as exciting today. But then maybe the maker movement brings an influx of new experimenters regardless. Awesome if so. And I also don't do hardware hobbyist stuff much anymore so I'm inclined to take your word for it if low-level circuit hacking really is getting popular again :-)

tmuir 11y ago

Don't forget the fact that they sell the same items for different prices in different areas of the store, and take the default position that you've stolen from them until you produce your receipt as you leave.

kabdib 11y ago
Ah, the Final Insult. After standing in the checkout line and paying, I just smile, say "My receipt looks correct, thanks" and walk right by the guy checking purchases at the door. They can't stop you. Been doing this since they instituted the practice (20 years ago?) Man, try returning a computer, especially a broken one. A true conversation: "This system doesn't work." "Right. That's why I'm returning it." "We can't take it back if it's not working, it means we can't put it back on the shelf." Facepalm. And reasoned argument, escalating into rather loud voices until they give me my money back just to get rid of me. Do not ever, ever buy a white box computer at Fry's.
- colechristensen 11y ago
  This is why you buy things with credit cards. You don't have to yell at employees, you just have to call your credit card company. Part of the contract you have with the credit card companies and the contract the credit card companies have with retailers includes guarantees of robust return policy very often extending the retailer's.
  - kabdib 11y ago
    I've never had any luck with that. I called the CC company in front of the Fry's folks and the CC folks just said, basically, "tough, if they won't take it back, that's not our problem" I don't use that CC any more.
quotemstr 11y ago
> default position that you've stolen from them until you produce your receipt as you leave. As a matter of principle, I always walk directly past receipt checkers at store exits. I've never been stopped, although I've gotten some nasty looks.

chipotle_coyote 11y ago

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. Is this a relatively recent change? And if not, are you sure it isn't for very specific departments, or certain price points or such? I don't go to Fry's all that often -- Amazon Prime blah blah etc. -- but I never saw them print out a quote sheet unless I did the internet price matching. The most recent purchase I've made there I can confirm is December 2013, though.

Sanddancer 11y ago
It's been something that the salespeople have done off and on through the years, but definitely something that's happening more frequently now. Usually they would just ask if you were also buying memory or something, now they'll ask if you just pass by and ask where something is.

icelancer 11y ago

This is strange. Service at my local Fry's is absolutely terrible and they no longer try to write me up for a quote. I even bought a desk for $150 (which has to have high commission) and no one tried to get a piece of the sale. I don't think it works like that at my local one, or the incentives are completely rewired.

jvoorhis 11y ago

I tried to buy cat6 patches at Fry's Santa Clara in a pinch. I couldn't check out with an extra $20 of cables in my cart until I found a checked out employee in the aisles to write up their commission.

jschwartzi 11y ago
Did they not let you check out at the register? I would have walked out on the sale if someone did that to me.

roflchoppa 11y ago

Ive never seen that, but i used to work for this company and repair computers for them. and FUCK man after seeing some of the shit that comes from Frys, i ended up giving this dude a new computer, the work was so bad that I would have essentially have had to replace almost 80% of the parts, and i would not know the reliability of the repair. Ended up just telling the manager to give him a new one.... that dude was hella funny, he came back two years later and i saw him and he instantly remembered me. That being said, in the sales department we instead just paid everyone remotely the same, no commission on anything. Never was a toxic environment, never was any banter amongst people, and i feel that it def. helps sales due to not overselling shit to people. Frys is a mess, but so is big box retail. DEEPSEA / SPACE EXPLORATION get the workers in on that shit lets get off this stupid rock. its fucking about to be 2020 where the hell are the flying cars.

hydrogen18 11y ago

I've always managed to get what I need when I goto Fry's, but I did find the whole salesman thing odd. For a $20 cable or electronic product its nuts. There is nothing wrong with having a guy on the floor who can help customers make the right purchase, but trying to make a living off commission on $10 products is just a crazy idea.

zw123456 11y ago

I ran into that the other day when I went to Fry's to purchase an item, they had a big sign up that they beat Internet prices, so I checked the item on my phone and asked the sales person if they would match the price and they said that it was sold out. I just got a feeling that the whole place is circling the drain based on the over all shabbiness of all the displays and so on. It just has that look to it.

erichurkman 11y ago
Their stores remind me of K-Mart stores. (Dirty, poor displays, a lot of shelf space empty/out of stock, and always almost entirely empty.)
- ams6110 11y ago
  Exactly like the K-mart here. I can't figure out how they are still in business.

ild 11y ago

Fry's have good selection candies though.

raincom 11y ago

You bet. I used to work at Fry's in 2001. Frys used to have so many cashiers those days; salesmen used to make $6.75 (then CA min wage) + commission. Commission was also good then: like $100 for a $2500 toshiba laptop; 15% commission on perf warranties. Weekends used to so busy with shoppers. Now you have merchandisers doing the cashier task. And you hardly see a row of cashiers. Even vendors are not happy with Fry's due to late payments.