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The one in Wilsonville, Oregon has been a sad place for well over a decade. A friend went there just before Christmas this year, and found the same as the arti
by taborj 7y ago
The one in Wilsonville, Oregon has been a sad place for well over a decade. A friend went there just before Christmas this year, and found the same as the article mentions - empty shelves, everywhere.
Fry's in Wilsonville had some tough shoes to fill -- the building started as an electronics megastore called Incredible Universe, and in the beginning at least it was an event to go there. When Fry's moved in, they ditched all the theming (side note - this store never got a unique theme like many other Fry's stores; it was always promised to be "coming soon" but never did), and changed the layout to be a bit of a hodge-podge by comparison.
I really miss Incredible Universe's "bent and dent" room, where they sold items that were missing bits, slightly damaged, unboxed, etc, at a pretty steep discount.
- steeef 7y agoI have vivid memories of the demos at Incredible Universe, including an early-stage VR setup. It's also the place I was able to try out crappy consoles like the Atari Jaguar and the 3DO Interactive.
- wj 7y agoI also remember demoing the 3DO at Incredible Universe. What an incredible store design they had. I believe I also bought my copy of OS/2 there.
- Ocerge 7y agoI remember going to the Wilsonville Fry's as a kid and playing Gran Turismo 2 for PS1 in an awesome demo setup with a steering wheel, shifter, and huge TV. I went back last year to the same store and found it downright melancholy. Like seeing your childhood die.
- schwank 7y agoI used to drive down there from Portland to get parts that I needed right away. Haven't been there in years though, as it had definitely started going downhill in the early 2000s. I always hated the receipt checkers and used to walk right by the line of people waiting to get out after they paid for merch. I did go to the AMD roadshow in the parking lot one time, and both my friend and I won Athlon CPU/Mobo combos, that was cool. That may have been the last time I was there. Sounds depressing.
- mrpippy 7y agoThe San Diego store (in Mission Valley) also started out as an Incredible Universe, Fry's had also bought their delivery trucks but never repainted them. Even 10 years ago, I would still see Incredible Universe-logoed trucks delivering appliances.