4 ms·

How is the Micro Center in DFW doing? I see other electronics retailers doing ok, so I think Amazon is just the coup de grace.

denimnerd42 7y ago
Seems to be busy enough. They always have new cool products and lots of new inventory. If he's in Irving that's pretty far from him so he might not visit.
ajflores1604 7y ago
Microcenter is doing great, at least from the point of view of a frequent customer. The Fry's in Plano is in a similar state to what parent comment is describing. It's an incredibly weird feeling walking thru. They've stopped restocking, so anything I remotely could use or need isn't there. What's left are things that nobody really wants. I have lots of memories growing up in that store, sad to see it like this. I definitely recommend hitting it up before the inevitable shutdown, it's quite the vibe to take in.
- BitwiseFool 7y ago
  It's mostly school supplies and pallets of bottled water now.
amyjess 7y ago
I haven't been there in a while, but from what I've heard from friends it's doing well. You may also want to check out Altex. They have a store in Carrollton, and my experience visiting there a few months ago is that they're _very_ well-stocked and with excellent prices at that.
- bnjms 7y ago
  Good tip. Never heard of Altex but I’m in Carrollton a lot.
furgooswft13 7y ago
Not DFW area (KofP), but it does feel a bit more like a warehouse to me rather than the exciting tech candy store I remember as a kid. Even the Apple section is depleted and meh feeling. Last time I went there was nothing particularly awe-inspiring as far as setup computers. Just a bunch of Dell and Lenovo's with normal looking monitors. Would have been nice to see at least one souped-up uber PC with all kinds of obnoxious leds quad SLI, and 4 8k monitors, or something. Granted it's still an extremely useful store, and I really wish I had one in the area I live in now.
- rossdavidh 7y ago
  Are we talking about Fry's or Microcenter?
  - furgooswft13 7y ago
    Microcenter
jccooper 7y ago
MicroCenter in Houston is always busy. Frys is a ghost town. Frys could be fine. They've just given up, I guess.
wenc 7y ago
Microcenters in the Chicagoland area (N Elston in Chicago, Westmont) are busy, especially on Saturdays. Shelves are well-stocked, and there's even an electronics section with a potpourri of Arduino and RaspPi accessories. I'm not sure how they're surviving in the era of online shopping but they seem to be doing well. I wonder if most of the foot traffic is driven by impulse same-day BOPIS (Buy Online Pickup in Store) sales. I'll admit that's how I ended up going to the brick-and-mortar store -- I didn't think that computer superstores still existed in this day and age.
- celim307 7y ago
  browsing the shelves and just being around tech is soothing for me. and the feeling of walking out with a bunch of boxes too. for something i enjoy like tech i like to savor the whole experience
  - Stratoscope 7y ago
    I can relate to that. I used to stop by the nearest Fry's store if I was in the neighborhood, even if I wasn't looking for anything in particular. I would just walk the aisles to see if anything looked interesting. And sometimes you would see people you knew, or knew of. On one of these random walks, I ran into Linus Torvalds in the Campbell store. Good times!
chaoticmass 7y ago
The one off 75 is always very busy when I go there on a Saturday. The DIY PC section always has a few people pushing around a cart full of parts, and even the pre-built system area will be crawling with customers.

denimnerd42 7y ago

Seems to be busy enough. They always have new cool products and lots of new inventory. If he's in Irving that's pretty far from him so he might not visit.

ajflores1604 7y ago

Microcenter is doing great, at least from the point of view of a frequent customer. The Fry's in Plano is in a similar state to what parent comment is describing. It's an incredibly weird feeling walking thru. They've stopped restocking, so anything I remotely could use or need isn't there. What's left are things that nobody really wants. I have lots of memories growing up in that store, sad to see it like this. I definitely recommend hitting it up before the inevitable shutdown, it's quite the vibe to take in.

BitwiseFool 7y ago
It's mostly school supplies and pallets of bottled water now.

amyjess 7y ago

I haven't been there in a while, but from what I've heard from friends it's doing well. You may also want to check out Altex. They have a store in Carrollton, and my experience visiting there a few months ago is that they're _very_ well-stocked and with excellent prices at that.

bnjms 7y ago
Good tip. Never heard of Altex but I’m in Carrollton a lot.

furgooswft13 7y ago

Not DFW area (KofP), but it does feel a bit more like a warehouse to me rather than the exciting tech candy store I remember as a kid. Even the Apple section is depleted and meh feeling. Last time I went there was nothing particularly awe-inspiring as far as setup computers. Just a bunch of Dell and Lenovo's with normal looking monitors. Would have been nice to see at least one souped-up uber PC with all kinds of obnoxious leds quad SLI, and 4 8k monitors, or something. Granted it's still an extremely useful store, and I really wish I had one in the area I live in now.

rossdavidh 7y ago
Are we talking about Fry's or Microcenter?
- furgooswft13 7y ago
  Microcenter

jccooper 7y ago

MicroCenter in Houston is always busy. Frys is a ghost town. Frys could be fine. They've just given up, I guess.

wenc 7y ago

Microcenters in the Chicagoland area (N Elston in Chicago, Westmont) are busy, especially on Saturdays. Shelves are well-stocked, and there's even an electronics section with a potpourri of Arduino and RaspPi accessories. I'm not sure how they're surviving in the era of online shopping but they seem to be doing well. I wonder if most of the foot traffic is driven by impulse same-day BOPIS (Buy Online Pickup in Store) sales. I'll admit that's how I ended up going to the brick-and-mortar store -- I didn't think that computer superstores still existed in this day and age.

celim307 7y ago
browsing the shelves and just being around tech is soothing for me. and the feeling of walking out with a bunch of boxes too. for something i enjoy like tech i like to savor the whole experience
- Stratoscope 7y ago
  I can relate to that. I used to stop by the nearest Fry's store if I was in the neighborhood, even if I wasn't looking for anything in particular. I would just walk the aisles to see if anything looked interesting. And sometimes you would see people you knew, or knew of. On one of these random walks, I ran into Linus Torvalds in the Campbell store. Good times!

chaoticmass 7y ago

The one off 75 is always very busy when I go there on a Saturday. The DIY PC section always has a few people pushing around a cart full of parts, and even the pre-built system area will be crawling with customers.