Fry's Electronics Closing Down All Remaining Stores Permanently
ROSEVILLE (CBS13) — Fry's Electronics is closing all their remaining stores for good.
As of Wednesday, Fry's website now just leads to a statement from the company confirming their decision to wind down operations.
"After nearly 36 years in business as the one-stop-shop and online resource for high-tech professionals across nine states and 31 stores, Fry's Electronics, Inc. ("Fry's" or "Company"), has made the difficult decision to shut down its operations and close its business permanently as a result of changes in the retail industry and the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic," Fry's wrote.
At its height, Fry's had dozens of stores spread across 9 states. The company's first store was opened in Sunnyvale in 1985.
Aside from being one of the first retailers to focus on consumer electronics, Fry's stores were known for their unique themes. Fry's Roseville location was notable for having a train theme.
Customers arrived at the Roseville store on Wednesday morning to find the doors locked.
"I came here at 9:35 a.m. right before it closes hoping they were going to open and they're not doing anything," said Toshiba Francois.
As of early 2021, only four California stores remained. Fry's Natomas store closed midway through 2020 and, while the company never officially said it was closed for good, its doors never reopened.
Vernon Sheuplein worked as a customer service and sales supervisor over returns at the Northgate store. He retired three years ago and waxes nostalgic about the good times.
"I miss everybody there, but not enough to want to go back," he said with a smile.
Sheuplein says he saw the writing on the wall years ago.
"Competition, that's where it's at and, for some reason, either Fry's [couldn't] handle it or decided not to take any steps to overcome that," Sheuplein said.
Fry's says they are in the process of reaching out to customers who had repair contracts as well as consignment vendors.
