3 ms·

This article completely fails to mention any of the horrific interpersonal dynamics of the family members who owned Fry's which, I suspect, was the primary reas

by bsder 8mo ago

This article completely fails to mention any of the horrific interpersonal dynamics of the family members who owned Fry's which, I suspect, was the primary reason why the chain had no way to arrest its downfall.

toast0 8mo ago
I had seen a rumor that personal finance issues of one of the family members lead to loss of business credit which lead to the consignment model which lead to no inventory which lead to the end. No idea if that's true, but it seems plausible?
duskwuff 8mo ago
Another important detail which the article glosses over is that, when Frys' supplier relationships started failing around 2019-2020, their product selection absolutely went to hell. When I visited a store in 2020, they had zero hard disks in stock - internal, external, mechanical, SSD, you name it, they didn't have it. I don't think they had any computer motherboards, CPUs, or memory, either. Plenty of cheap, generic shelf-fillers like hand sanitizer and light bulbs, though!
- throwup238 8mo ago
  In that era I remember they had mostly fidget spinners. I think the staff were really bored at that point because half the fidget spinner inventory was in those clear plastic security boxes for what was a useless $10 toy.
  - duskwuff 8mo ago
    I have a collection of photos from a trip I took to a Fry's shortly before its demise. Some of the things I saw on display were: - Multiple aisles of nothing but cheap, no-name hand sanitizer (all the same kind, too - not a broad selection) - Another entire aisle of pepper spray (again, a single item, just spread out really thin) - Cheap LED bulbs (the screw-in kind, not components) - Portable fans - Bluetooth party speakers (really big ones that looked like oversized roll-aboard luggage) I don't remember seeing any fidget spinners - but I wouldn't be surprised if some of the shelf-filler items were stocked on a store-by-store basis. It certainly didn't give me the impression of a carefully planned operation.
Animats 8mo ago
Fry's owner had a strange side business. It was called the American Institute of Mathematics.[1] Its headquarters was originally behind a small door in the Palo Alto Fry's Electronics building. This was followed by a project to move the Institute into a replica castle in Morgan Hill with a private 18-hole golf course. Really.[2] "The plans for the four-level castle include a 76-car underground garage, large wine storage facilities, a library, a 145-seat auditorium, 20 guest suites, dining facilities, lecture halls and conference rooms, locker rooms and exercise facilities and a gift shop." There was some construction, but the $60 million castle was never actually built. The private golf course was built, and there are a very few reports of play there, although it's so private that golf sites aren't sure if it's still operating. In 2022, the Institute of Mathematics moved to Caltech.[3] Whether the whole thing was a tax shelter for a golf course remains a good question. [1] https://www.ams.org/notices/200511/fea-aim.pdf https://www.ams.org/notices/200511/fea-aim.pdf [2] https://morganhilltimes.com/frys-golf-in-rough/ https://morganhilltimes.com/frys-golf-in-rough/ [3] https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/american-institute-of-mathematics-moves-to-caltech https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/american-institute-of-mat...
- insane_dreamer 8mo ago
  wtaf

by bsder 8mo ago

toast0 8mo ago

I had seen a rumor that personal finance issues of one of the family members lead to loss of business credit which lead to the consignment model which lead to no inventory which lead to the end. No idea if that's true, but it seems plausible?

duskwuff 8mo ago

Another important detail which the article glosses over is that, when Frys' supplier relationships started failing around 2019-2020, their product selection absolutely went to hell. When I visited a store in 2020, they had zero hard disks in stock - internal, external, mechanical, SSD, you name it, they didn't have it. I don't think they had any computer motherboards, CPUs, or memory, either. Plenty of cheap, generic shelf-fillers like hand sanitizer and light bulbs, though!

throwup238 8mo ago
In that era I remember they had mostly fidget spinners. I think the staff were really bored at that point because half the fidget spinner inventory was in those clear plastic security boxes for what was a useless $10 toy.
- duskwuff 8mo ago
  I have a collection of photos from a trip I took to a Fry's shortly before its demise. Some of the things I saw on display were: - Multiple aisles of nothing but cheap, no-name hand sanitizer (all the same kind, too - not a broad selection) - Another entire aisle of pepper spray (again, a single item, just spread out really thin) - Cheap LED bulbs (the screw-in kind, not components) - Portable fans - Bluetooth party speakers (really big ones that looked like oversized roll-aboard luggage) I don't remember seeing any fidget spinners - but I wouldn't be surprised if some of the shelf-filler items were stocked on a store-by-store basis. It certainly didn't give me the impression of a carefully planned operation.

Animats 8mo ago

Fry's owner had a strange side business. It was called the American Institute of Mathematics.[1] Its headquarters was originally behind a small door in the Palo Alto Fry's Electronics building. This was followed by a project to move the Institute into a replica castle in Morgan Hill with a private 18-hole golf course. Really.[2] "The plans for the four-level castle include a 76-car underground garage, large wine storage facilities, a library, a 145-seat auditorium, 20 guest suites, dining facilities, lecture halls and conference rooms, locker rooms and exercise facilities and a gift shop." There was some construction, but the $60 million castle was never actually built. The private golf course was built, and there are a very few reports of play there, although it's so private that golf sites aren't sure if it's still operating. In 2022, the Institute of Mathematics moved to Caltech.[3] Whether the whole thing was a tax shelter for a golf course remains a good question. [1] https://www.ams.org/notices/200511/fea-aim.pdf https://www.ams.org/notices/200511/fea-aim.pdf [2] https://morganhilltimes.com/frys-golf-in-rough/ https://morganhilltimes.com/frys-golf-in-rough/ [3] https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/american-institute-of-mathematics-moves-to-caltech https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/american-institute-of-mat...

insane_dreamer 8mo ago
wtaf