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  • Author Author: ralphjy
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Goodbye Fry's - You'll be missed

ralphjy

I just saw the sad news that electronics retailer Fry's Electronics is going out of business after 36 years: https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2021/02/24/frys-electronics-has-gone-out-business-after-36-years/4572429001/

 

Fry's is is probably only well known on the West Coast although they had an online presence.  They started in Sunnyvale, CA and I used to go to the stores in Southern California when I lived down there and then continued to shop in the Wilsonville store when I moved to Oregon.  I mostly frequented the store at Burbank Airport in SoCal shown below and also spent a lot of time in the San Jose store in the Bay area because I was always traveling between those locations for work.

 

Fry's was well known for their amazing electronics inventory - everything that a hobbyist could want.  And every store had a theme - like the spaceship at Burbank.  I haven't been to the Wilsonville store for over a year because of the pandemic, but I've ordered stuff from them online.  I guess I won't have the chance to visit them again.  I will definitely miss them.....  Another victim of the pandemic image.

 

 

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  • When I lived in California, Fry's was my go to computer store.  I had the opportunity to visit several of their locations (San Jose, Sacramento and Concord), which were near businesses that I worked with or in locations near my children's colleges.  It had gone through so many changes through the years, starting with a lot of electronic components and then shifting more and more into mostly office supply and games, etc.

     

    The company did have some unusual business practices, driving really tough terms on their suppliers, until a lot of companies just refused to do business with them.

     

    A great idea and a fun place to go, but in the end their business plans and competition killed them.

  • in reply to genebren

    They did have a crazy business model.  I can see how difficult it would be for their suppliers. 

     

    But they saved my bacon quite a few times when I was working in the San Jose area.  Seems that we were always repairing the ATE during nights and weekends and they were the only store open when I needed parts.  And as we've all experienced - management can never wait for tomorrow - even if you happen to be the manager image...

  • in reply to ralphjy

    Ralph,

     

      wrote:

     

    They did have a crazy business model.  I can see how difficult it would be for their suppliers. 

     

    But they saved my bacon quite a few times when I was working in the San Jose area.  Seems that we were always repairing the ATE during nights and weekends and they were the only store open when I needed parts.  And as we've all experienced - management can never wait for tomorrow - even if you happen to be the manager image...

    So what ATE systems were you repairing?  I worked on the design of a few different ATE systems (for a few different companies) plus had the pleasure of using and repairing other ATE systems.

     

    Gene

  • in reply to genebren

    I spent most of my career with Teradyne on the West Coast, so it was our testers.  In the 80s and 90s, I used to provide factory engineering support for new testers at semiconductor manufacturers like Intel and National and AMD.  As we transitioned into this century, we were designing and testing the more complex ASICs that we used in our testers so I was repairing the ATE that I was using at a contract test house to develop and validate the ASIC test programs.  Most recently using our Ultraflex testers at EAG.

  • in reply to ralphjy

    Very interesting! One of the companies that I worked with was Zehntel, where we built In-circuit testers.  At some point (mid to late 80's) we were acquired by Teradyne and we continued to operate in Walnut Creek.  I managed the software development of the Z18xx line of In-circuit testers that were driven by a PC.  I was there for 10 years (my longest tenure of my career).  We had a good working relationship with group in Boston, where I met a bunch of very sharp and friendly folks.

  • in reply to genebren

    I never got over to Walnut Creek or used any of the Zehntel testers.  We used to use the Teradyne L200/L300 testers back when we still did our own manufacturing.

     

    I was more involved with semiconductor test and worked with the guys from the Megatest acquisition in San Jose.  And then later when they were reacquired as Nextest. 

     

    I'm sure I knew some of the people at/from Walnut Creek.  Old age has muddled my recollection....

  • in reply to ralphjy

    Yes, I know that there were some interactions between the two groups, but I was not involved with any of that, nor could I be of any help in remembering anyone there that might have worked with your group.  I left Teradyne before they shrunk back and closed down the Walnut Creek (Zehntel) office (along with other groups).

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  • in reply to ralphjy

    Yes, I know that there were some interactions between the two groups, but I was not involved with any of that, nor could I be of any help in remembering anyone there that might have worked with your group.  I left Teradyne before they shrunk back and closed down the Walnut Creek (Zehntel) office (along with other groups).

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