Talk:Fry's Electronics/Archive 1

Customer Search section
I found the the Customer Search section (added 4/15/07) to be very helpful. Why was it deleted?


 * It violated numerous Wikipedia policies including Verifiability, No original research, and Neutral point of view. These policies are necessary to minimize legal liability for both Wikipedia and its editors (see the Seigenthaler controversy). The more negative and controversial an assertion is, the stronger the need for support from a reliable source. --Coolcaesar 07:53, 23 April 2007 (UTC)

Poor customer service
The stores are noted for, and seem to revel in, a reputation for horrible customer service. Is there any way that can be added in an NPOV manner? RickK 07:26, Aug 22, 2004 (UTC)


 * That's a good question. I've heard the same thing (luckily I never needed any service when I shopped there).  If you can find and quote a source, that'd be the best way to add it in a NPOV manner.  You could say, "The store chain is noted for poor customer service," but without a source, it sounds weasley.    &mdash; Frecklefoot | Talk 14:42, Aug 24, 2004 (UTC)


 * Updated, with references. Attempted to revise for NPOV.  New to Wiki, would appreciate some feedback. --Hadley 04:35, 29 Oct 2004 (UTC)


 * I'm in silicon valley and shop at Fry's almost every week. I think the reputation for poor service is somewhat of an urban legend or just something for us geeks to complain about. The complaints come from the fact that people want to return just about any and everything, even when the item is obviously no longer in sellable condition. Just to show that I'm not a shill for the company, something more concrete to complain about is their policy of selling returned and repackaged items. Dyl 05:12, Oct 29, 2004 (UTC)


 * I used to live in SV, and I think its reputation is well-earned. But at least (now) it's presented in a NPOV manner.  If you think the repackaged items need to be mentioned, go ahead and add it.  Be bold. :-)   &mdash; Frecklefoot | Talk 14:56, Oct 29, 2004 (UTC)


 * FWIW, the Wired (September 1998) article mentions "famously antagonistic customer service" and refers to the clerks as "surly"; still, it's clear they love the place.  The article is still a fun read.. I always knew my collection of "Wired"s would be useful for something. --hadley 04:42, 9 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Store locations
With all due respect to Mboverload, do we really need--or want to--list all there store locations? We aren't an advertising vehicle for them and all that info is on their webiste, which we link to. Would we want to list all the locations of Wal-Marts or Best Buys? I could see doing it if their stores were few in number or hard to find, but they aren't either. &mdash; Frecklefoot | Talk 15:59, Nov 15, 2004 (UTC)


 * The recent edits by Elf has improved the list of store locations (the edits made it smaller), but I really don't think we need to list their store locations&mdash;that's their job, not ours. We link to their website which lists all their store locations.  We don't do it for any other retailers, so why for Fry's?  Please, I'd really like to hear any justification for listing their store locations.   &mdash; Frecklefoot | Talk 15:19, Nov 16, 2004 (UTC)


 * I also think that the pointer to their website is sufficient article content with respect to accessing location information. - [[User:Bevo|Bevo]] 15:36, 16 Nov 2004 (UTC)


 * I agree --Mboverload 16:18, 22 Nov 2004 (UTC)


 * Actually I agree--I was just tired last night and doing a little cleanup here & there & didn't think too hard about it. I'll be bold & remove.  Elf | Talk 18:53, 16 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Thank you! :-)  &mdash; Frecklefoot | Talk 20:55, Nov 16, 2004 (UTC)

Um, having not seen this discussion, I put back the list of all the stores. Seeing as how there are only 25, I don't think it's a space-wasting problem, and I think including the themes makes it more interesting than a mere list of store locations. The comparisons to Best Buy and Wal-Mart are not apt here, because if you've seen one, you've seen them all, but each Fry's Electronics location is unique. I intentionally didn't include the addresses, because that would have been too much advertising, but simply the city name and the theme I think makes for mildly interesting trivia. Nohat 03:21, 20 Mar 2005 (UTC)


 * I'll buy that. Elf | Talk 14:11, 20 Mar 2005 (UTC)

I don't understand why the closed Lawrence & Kern location is listed, but the closed Oakmead & Lakeside location is not. If it is meant to be a complete list of locations, including closed locations, it should include the Oakmead & Lakeside store. If it is meant to be a current list of locations, then drop the Lawrence & Kern location. --Larry Hastings 19:59, 21 March 2006 (UTC)


 * The list is incomplete. Please feel free to add any closed stores you know of. Nohat 20:57, 21 March 2006 (UTC)


 * The article states there are three locations in Georgia. In fact, there are only two GA locations: one (new) store in Alpharetta and the (older) store in Duluth.   The table shows two stores for Alpharetta.   Given that Alpharetta is a fairly small town, it would be extraordinary for Frys to build more than one store in that locale.  The company claims it has only one Alpharetta store.   They have not announced plans for any additional stores in Georgia. 208.27.235.133 09:51, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

Founders?
Does anyone know anything about the founders? For instance, I thought I heard once that one of them had an advanced degree in mathematics.--68.94.26.237


 * All I know is that it was started by the sons of the owner of the Fry's grocery stores who were more interested in technology than food.  &mdash; Frecklefoot | Talk 15:44, Mar 22, 2005 (UTC)


 * John Fry got a math degree. Forbes story  -- DrVeghead 04:18, 22 Apr 2005 (UTC)


 * Check out the front page of Today's Mercury News. John Fry is funding the construction of a new home for the American Institute of Mathematics (currently in a building next to the Palo Alto store.) This will be located in Morgan Hill near Fry's personal 18-hole golf course, and &mdash; get this &mdash; will be a replica of Spain's El Alhambra. It is expected to cost $50 million and be completed in 2009. ChrisWinter 04:33, 2 June 2007 (UTC)

Vandalism or correct date?
Can anyone confirm what the correct date of the cited article is--an anon user just changed it from "The Future of Retail," Wired 6.09, September 1998, page 146. to 6.07, July 1998. Elf | Talk 03:14, 20 July 2005 (UTC)

Kroger statement
I moved this statement from the article, just added by an anon user:


 * FRY'S ELECTRONICS is not affiliated with FRY'S FOOD & DRUG STORES or THE KROGER COMPANY. THE KROGER COMPANY owns and operates the FRY'S FOOD & DRUG STORES. (DO NOT EDIT THIS PARAGRAPH. THIS PARAGRAPH IS PROPERTY OF THE KROGER COMPANY and IS APPROVED BY THE KROGER COMPANY.)

I don't know what to make of it. I doubt Kroger had a flunky log onto Wikipedia and make such a change. No part of Wikipedia is "owned by Kroger" or any other private company. However, someone may want to research the veracity of the statement and make any pertinent changes to the article. &mdash; Frecklefoot | Talk 13:51, 4 January 2006 (UTC) A similar notice was placed in the Fry's Food and Drug Stores page, this time by 207.200.116.12. I've removed the license-conflicting Do not edit... statement, but left the other ownership statement alone (apart from removing the unnecessary caps). JXM 18:18, 4 January 2006 (UTC)
 * Well, it's certainly true that there's no affiliation. What else needs be changed? That's exactly what the article says. I've changed it to say "Fry's Food & Drug Stores" to be more precise. --jpgordon∇∆∇∆ 17:54, 4 January 2006 (UTC)


 * I doubt it's an official PR flack---a real one would have gone through official channels and contacted the Wikimedia Foundation's counsel. It must be some well-meaning store manager or cashier.  --Coolcaesar 07:14, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

Fremont PC-Walla Fry's
The Fremont Fry's staff appears to be ~90% of Indian nationality, is this just a reflection of Fremont, Ca demographics? I sometimes feel like I am watching the movie Dish Walla there.

There are a lot of Persians in the Concord store. I think the multi-ethnic nature of Fry's employees should be mentioned in the article.


 * If you can find reliable sources which disucss the ethnic distribution of employees then it would be suitable. Our own estimates are not sufficient. -Will Beback 22:38, 24 June 2006 (UTC)


 * Fry's seems to fly under the radar of the media, or maybe it's that they purchase all those ads. :-)  Anyway I have been working there for the last 4 to 5 months and am now moving on to another job. Although I will not disagree with most of the criticisms made of Fry's I do feel that, from what I have seen, they gave a lot of young people of all ethnic groups a chance to get started on their careers.  I might just write an article about my experiences and post it to some blog.Steve Dufour 08:30, 26 June 2006 (UTC)


 * I know several people who work at a certain Bay Area newspaper, and they have admitted to me off the record that their employer never runs negative coverage of Fry's because Fry's is one of their biggest advertisers. As we all know, Fry's loves to buy up the "back pages" of the newspaper or even inserts its own special advertising section. --Coolcaesar 16:27, 26 June 2006 (UTC)


 * I suspected that something like that was going on. Very smart of Fry's.Steve Dufour 17:24, 26 June 2006 (UTC)


 * I noticed plenty of Indian staff in the Fremont one too, Fremont's second biggest ethnic group is Indian. (1st is Chinese)--Old Guard 06:00, 21 August 2006 (UTC)


 * Not only are they mostly Indian, they're specifically Punjabi. I seem to remember hearing that Fry's had replaced a lot of them with people less ethnically conspicuous (the turbans are bit noticable), but it's been a while since I was last there to see. --WikiMarshall 08:18, 20 January 2007 (UTC)

Themes?
What's this about "The Movies" theme in the Sacramento store? I've been there at least a hundred times and never seen any movies theme. What's up? Havethey remodeled recently?Gopherbassist 20:55, 11 June 2006 (UTC)

Fry's Store 14 Sacramento does not have an official theme, it was once upon a time an Incredible Universe location though, and many of the "show-biz" hangings from that era have been incorporated into the store's decor. Runner095 17:15, 18 June 2006 (UTC)

Store #2 (Fremont/"space")
I don't recall any "Battlestar Galactica artifacts" at store #2. As I recall, it was a first attempt at a themed store, but it wasn't until store #3 (Palo Alto) that Industrial Light and Magic became involved.

Can anyone help reconcile my memories with the article? Thanks. - Johnlogic (talk) 21:05, 17 January 2009 (UTC)

Outpost.com
I see that this links directly here. I will take a wild guess and say that Fry's has bought them out. Still, Outpost.Com had its own history and should have its own page for that. Alyeska 03:22, 6 July 2006 (UTC)


 * True, their commercials are pretty famous. There should be something written about them.--Matteh (talk) 15:29, 12 September 2006 (UTC)

Outpost.com was originally Cyberian Outpost (based in Connecticut, see http://web.archive.org/web/19971211075018/www.outpost.com/html/about.html) and had nothing to do with Fry's until Fry's purchased them. I believe the reason was that Fry's figured that was better than trying to start their own e-commerce site. I was very bummed because it meant that, living in California, I was now charged sales tax on items purchased from Outpost.com. --Tedzzzz (talk) 00:28, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

NPOV and sourcing
The article needs to follow WP:V and WP:NPOV. Currently, the whole article is a mish-mash of unsubstantiated complaints and advice. Even the parts that appear to be reasonably correct are not often sourced. The customer service section in particular is a mess. --C S (Talk) 16:28, 31 July 2006 (UTC)


 * I agree. Can't we just put the NPOV template on that section though? ~ clearthought 16:29, 31 July 2006 (UTC)


 * The whole article has a problem with NPOV, not just that section. The advertising section has problems.  Also, I'm not just talking about the critical stuff.  Parts of the article are praising but still not NPOV, e.g. "Geek mecca", comparisons to Best Buy, the comments about filled parking lots, which are not only unsourced but is debatable why it was included except to promote a particular POV.  The problems with POV and sourcing (and perhaps even some OR) are with the whole article, so I don't really see a point in redundantly tagging individual sections.  --C S (Talk) 16:52, 31 July 2006 (UTC)


 * In the part where it says "Fry's sells all the parts for a consumer to make their own (computer)", there's no source for it, but all you have to do is look at the ads and see cases, motherboards, processors, memory, etc. being sold. Fry's also sells electronic parts and test equipment unlike Best Buy, a more consumer oriented store. &mdash;Pelladon 01:11, 24 September 2006 (UTC)

We need interior pictures
These stores have some pretty nifty themes/interiors, can somebody please take a few pictures?--Old Guard 06:01, 21 August 2006 (UTC)


 * It's a hard feat. Fry's doesn't like people taking pictures of their interiors.  If caught, the photographer's camera is confiscated, film removed, then returned.  This is pretty standard, though.  Photos can be used to case the joint (prepare for a roberry or burgluary). &mdash; Frecklefoot | Talk 14:27, 21 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Frecklefoot's right. When Costco saw me trying taking better photos inside the warehouse to replace the photo I already took (see the article for my current photo) they got kind of mad and chased me out.  Retail people in general don't like customers with cameras because (1) it distracts them from dealing with shoplifters and (2) photos can be used to case a joint for a takeover robbery during store hours (for example, photos can be used to prepare maps) or a burglary after hours.  --Coolcaesar 21:49, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

Commissions
Cashiers (or Customer Service Associates aka CSA) were paid .23% of every dollar rung up at their register. This changed last quarter when all CSA's were switched to quarterly commission. Each certified CSA gets paid $8/hr, then based on the previous quarters sales/hour the base $8/hr is increased incrementally up to $13/hr. Un-certified CSA's get $7/hr and are not eligible for commission. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.123.132.251 (talk • contribs)


 * First off, I'm disclosing that I work for Fry's, and I have to point out that any information on commissions or stuff like that is confidential. I can't and won't confirm whether this is right or wrong.  In fact, considering that it is near impossible to cite the source, I'd like this information removed if possible.  --Geopgeop 08:40, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

I don't think it's confidential. You try to apply for cashier, and they tell you all of this when applying. I was told that and there was no nondisclosure agreement or anything. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.158.165.226 (talk) 08:36, 15 July 2008 (UTC)

Concord location
Oh yeah, this can be added: the location of the Concord store used to be a Levitz Furniture store. Again, I can't add this myself, as I work for Fry's, so if someone can add this, thanks. --Geopgeop 08:42, 15 November 2006 (UTC)


 * I'm familiar with the store and the history of that location but why would you want to add that to this article? Also, even though you work for Fry's, that doesn't prohibit you from adding info to this article. Jtpaladin 21:13, 19 June 2007 (UTC)

Spartan?
The History section said that "The Oxnard store and future stores will only feature Spartan decorative elements." This implies that they will feature decorative elements reminiscent of, well, the Sparta from a couple thousand years ago - which is almost certainly not the case. I assume someone decided to capitalize that for no good reason; I've changed it to a lowercase s, which makes a whole lot more sense both in context and from my personal experience. 63.193.215.221 05:36, 26 December 2006 (UTC)


 * Well, is the decoration of the store "spartan" as in "sparse" or "Spartan" as in "emulating the historical city of Sparta and ancient Greece"? Perhaps it should be changed altogether to prevent confusion. &mdash; Frecklefoot | Talk 16:22, 2 January 2007 (UTC)

Major overhaul of article
Okay... I'm probably going to be seen as Draconian, but I decided to tackle the complete revision of this article. It was filled to the brim with OR, and in an effort to comply with sourcing requirements of Wikipedia, I removed anything that wasn't sourced, with rare exceptions. This means that major sections were completely eliminated, although I had good reason for doing so. The History section needed to be slimmed down considerably, since the endless discussion of theming for what seemed like every store in the chain was unnecessary and redundant, given that a list of stores and their themes are in a separate section later in the article. Also, one or two key examples, which I left in the article, is more encyclopedic. Finally, personal remembrances of why a location was a great shopping experience is not encyclopedic. Sorry. :(

The Commission section I eliminated entirely, as everything in it is OR, information that could only come from a former employee. In addition, I believe it's unnecessary information in an article about an electronics retailer. If this information has a source article that explains Fry's commission structure and illustrates its influence on customer service, then by all means, add it back. Otherwise, it shouldn't be here. Finally, the Advertising section was filled with POV and unsourced statements, so I got rid of all of it. I did acknowledge the customer-created websites, however, as a way to get some additional information in the article without using weasel language ("some people say," etc).

Okay, those of you who contributed much of this article prior to my edit can burn me at the stake now. ;) --TARDIS 08:56, 31 January 2007 (UTC)
 * I see nothing wrong with your revisions. It looks much better now.  Thanks for helping out!  --Coolcaesar 05:33, 1 February 2007 (UTC)
 * Nice...it wouldn't happen to be in response to this, would it? :-)  Granted it isn't FA quality, but what could be done next is to separate the paragraphs about its retailing operations from the History section.  Regards,  Tuxide 06:01, 1 February 2007 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the feedback. Actually, Tuxide, I never saw that link you provided.  I just saw that the article needed work and decided to take a crack at it. (I shop at Fry's occasionally, so I'm familiar with the store enough to do so.)  The Retailing/History split is a good suggestion.  Maybe we can work on that next. :) --TARDIS 19:17, 1 February 2007 (UTC)
 * Good job. Under History, by sequence it's arguable that store #2 at Fremont pioneered the theme concept, then #3 at Palo Alto, before Sunnyvale #4 opened. might need to drop the store #4 story unless a reference can be found.  71.146.152.196 07:23, 10 February 2007 (UTC)

Are the store numbers correct?
I ask because the Alpharetta, GA store opened after the Duluth, GA store, but is listed here with a lower store number. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bigpeteb (talk • contribs)
 * I am marking the section as unreferenced for this reason. Considering WP:V, the whole table should probably be cited.  Tuxide 22:12, 16 February 2007 (UTC)


 * I see that Feeeeshboy removed the locations section on 21 May. I think that this list as it was when I last saw it — just store numbers, city of location, date opened, and theme (if any) — is fine to include. It relates to the history of the store and its acquisition of the Incredible Universe chain. Also, it's a stretch to call it advertising for Fry's since the addresses and phone numbers are not given. (And in that connection, I note today that the article on Micro Center does list all 20 locations, including street addresses.)


 * I'm minded to put this section back. But first, I want to add a section on Fry's online store, now that I have some sources. ChrisWinter 18:41, 24 May 2007 (UTC)


 * Hi, folks. In the interest of cooperation, let me just say that if consensus is to put the store list back, I'm not going to stand in the way of the consensus, although I think that the information would be most appropriately handled as an external link to whatever site lists them. In my experience, the standard for wikipedia articles is to favor text over lists, making extra list pages for anything that can't be contained in a few cogent paragraphs. The point of the article would be to explain what the chain is and give general information about it, but not all of the information, and certainly nothing resembling a yellow pages. I thought that the theme information was fairly anecdotal, and not befitting an encyclopedia article. The best way to handle this kind of information would be a paragraph that points out a few examples. Cheers. Feeeshboy 02:51, 25 May 2007 (UTC)

"although Fry's usually will not match prices from their website" is not right
I know in the Dallas, Irving, Plano, Houston, South Hoston, and Austin locations, Frys.com will match the price on their site. Most of the registers have another machine with Windows on it (instead of their normal terminal based system) with the website up. They use to even look up product types and prices and say if the website has it they will have it (or they should). If this is the case else ware as well I'll change it soon. ZacBowlingtalk 02:47, 27 February 2007 (UTC)


 * There may be something to this, I noticed that a lot (although not all) of the prices from the Fry's website do correspond to the retail store College Watch 23:35, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

San Diego store
It does not really have any theme, I have no idea where the "Aircraft Carrier" claim comes from. Its interior is completely plain. --Itinerant1 08:14, 8 April 2007 (UTC)


 * There are internal schematics showing how the Aircraft Carrier theme was supposed to be layed out.  These plans fell through. —Preceding unsigned comment added by User: (talk • contribs)

Non-salespeople
"Fry has numerous employees in every store, but it seems that none are actually salespeople. Customers have wandered through a store for hours but left without buying anything, because they had failed to find a store employee who could tell them anything about a product that was not printed on the box. This is true of people who were regular customers 20 years ago." seems to be an opinion. I understand what they are trying to say, but i do not think that this is the right way of stating it. Perhaps pointing out that the sales guys are not well informed about products. 08/24/07 —Preceding unsigned comment added by Special:Contributions/ (talk)


 * I flat out removed it because it's certainly not NPOV and worded poorly. I'm not disagreeing that the typical floorworker at Fry's is the last person you want to ask for factual information (the number of times I've been outright ignored is astonishing) but trust me, they're no worse than any other chain.  When you pay a kid $10 an hour to walk the sales floor, he/she has no real reason to learn any more than what's on the box, and that's the case at every big-box retailer out there.Ayocee 23:47, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Employees Perspective/Opinion
As a (former) Employee, how best would I add details about the store and general recommendations? I'm new to the whole Wiki thing, but I understand that there is a strict guideline for articles and sources. To be specific, as a Service Technician, and IS Tech (Highest tech without being management) for aprox one year it was my observation that ECS brand motherboards had anywhere from 60-80% failure rate out of the box, and it was not uncommon for the sales staff to bring us (service department) their entire inventory of a certain model for testing before a customer would purchase it. Whether this is the result of a bad product or poor return process would be speculation on my part, but the failure rate certainly is not. It would be my recommendation that any customer wishing to purchase an ECS motherboard take it to the service department after paying and request a "counter check". At my store this free service was performed promptly (within 10 min) and in sight of the customer to verify that the specific board they had purchased was good before they left the store. Chaosratt (talk) 08:14, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

A section of criticism might be warranted here
As it appears now this article could be a press release from Fry's. Since their past history is well documented in the media and hardly an "urban legend" or just a few disgruntled kooks, and continues in some areas (repackaging returns to be sold as new, or having the returns line long and conspicuous at the entrance to intimidate you to select purchases wisely) I think it's a balance to an otherwise glowing corporate review. For benefit of Fry's it can address that many have been acted upon. Having a few instances myself in the past which had me exiting the parking lot pounding on my dashboard and shouting after spending 2 hours in their bizarre circus of retail, (and returning a week later anyway!) I think such eccentricity, of the only retailer in the world where you can find solder AND toothpaste, should be historically documented. Batvette (talk) 01:22, 21 January 2008 (UTC)

Alleged employee mistreatment
A user has twice added a large section alleging mistreatment of employees. None of it is cited, it's extremely slanted against Fry's, and is rife with weasel words. Some of the claims don't even make sense - in my (non-Fry's) retail experience, retail stores require the closing floor / cashier employees to assist in cleanup of the premises, they lay off lesser-performing workers, and they require their employees to push any add-on plans the store offers.

I'm of the opinion that the entire added segment needs to be either completely reworked or stripped from the article but I'm not about to get into a revert war over it. Ayocee (talk) 21:02, 19 February 2008 (UTC)


 * I've heard, from ex-employees, that Fry's is a terrible company to work for. Since I've never been into a store for any reason, I can't confirm that. If there is employee mistreatment going on, then perhaps a filing to a state's labor board or some of the like that can be cited can be used, until then, even though I know for a fact it's going on, it just can't be cited here at Wikipedia, that's all. Coffee5binky (talk) 22:21, 24 December 2009 (UTC)

Boeing 747SP
It may be worth noting that Fry's apparently owns a Boeing 747SP ([N747A). Somewhat odd. [[User:Raccettura|Raccettura]] (talk)  —Preceding undated comment added 04:04, 14 June 2009 (UTC).

"Orwellian" security
Quoted from the criticisms:
 * "An example is a policy in which customers are subjected to a voluntary receipt check, after walking a few dozen feet from the register to the exit doors. When customers have taken offense, they usually will predicate their objections on ample shoplifting detection measures already being in place that are far less invasive, such as the dozens of clearly visible security cameras, and assumed security team monitoring them."

Uncited as it is, this really sounds like original research from a disgruntled customer. I don't work for Fry's, but I have a history in loss prevention / asset protection, and as anyone with even basic knowledge can tell you, receipt verification under those circumstances (where checkout procedure was clearly visible from the door) is primarily to combat issues that security cameras will not catch, such as cashier scanning errors (failing to ring items, double-ringing items and accidentally overcharging customers, scanning incorrect bar codes, etc.), and UPC sticker replacement scams (creating homemade UPC stickers and carefully placing them over the real UPC so that the item rings up as an often similar but always cheaper item).

The section really seems like it needs to be yanked until it can be cited. It just sounds like the thinly-veiled rantings of a typical customer ignorant to the inner-workings of a retail environment. -Matt S. (talk) 00:54, 11 July 2009 (UTC)

Charlie Chip
If anyone was wondering why Fry's mascot is named "Charlie Chip" it's after the Fry's brothers father Charlie Fry, the founder of Fry's Grocery, whom established the Fry's brand (as a grocery retailer) and wealth that he passed on to his sons who later founded Fry's Electronics. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.105.170.186 (talk) 01:28, 14 July 2010 (UTC)

Discrepancy in History vs. Pictures
In the History section, it says that Fry's opened their first store in Sunnyvale. However, in the caption for the picture of the Palo Alto store, it says that the Palo Alto store is the oldest operating location. Which is it? I suspect it is the Sunnyvale store, because that statement is sourced and the other one is not. However, the source is a now a broken link. Could someone more knowledgeable than I look into this? 174.62.108.105 (talk) 04:13, 22 February 2013 (UTC)

There is no inconsistency---I took both of those photos. Palo Alto is the oldest store in the chain in continuous operation at the same site (since the newer stores are bigger, PA is relatively cramped). Sunnyvale is not because the original one is long-closed. Fry's opted to replace both times by building new stores at different sites in Sunnyvale rather then trying to expand the existing ones or by tearing down and rebuilding on the same site. --Coolcaesar (talk) 17:26, 23 February 2013 (UTC)

"One of the only retail outlets"??
Not sure about the real accuracy of "The store was and still is one of the only retail outlets in the country that sold off-the-shelf microprocessors such as the Intel 80286", which was recently added.

In the mid-1980s, when Fry's was founded, there were several component retailers in the area, such as Quement on Bascom Ave in San Jose. And JDR Microdevices, which at that time was on El Camino Real not far from Fry's, continues to do an extensive off-the-shelf retail trade. A quick glance through early issues of tech magazines like Byte shows a variety of adverts for microprocessor retailers.

I think that this addition needs a cited source. jxm (talk) 20:49, 15 October 2013 (UTC)

This article is full of misinformation. In the first section alone to writer has names wrong, facts wrong and contradicts themselves twice. (Selene Scott (talk)) — Preceding undated comment added 22:21, 23 October 2014 (UTC)

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I sure hope that's graffiti
Crack? I'd just mind my own business, not being a wikipedia nerd. But I'm pretty sure nobody was selling crack from their TARDIS in 1972. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 73.34.124.105 (talk) 18:54, 21 February 2017 (UTC)
 * Reverted. Same IP vandalized the article similarly before. We can always put the article on semi-protect if need be. Jeh (talk) 19:16, 21 February 2017 (UTC)

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Best Buy Comparison
What exactly is meant by this statement?: "While Best Buy sells fully built computers, Fry's also sells computers and components so that consumers can build their own." Last I checked, Best Buy does indeed sell components (albeit with a very limited selection) so that consumers can build their own computers. Is this statement outdated, misinformed, or am I reading it incorrectly? Tha Pyngwyn (talk) 03:00, 15 January 2012 (UTC)

I think it's more a technicality. At Best Buy you can piece together a computer, but with just the big things like the case and power supply and things like that with a limited selection in store while at Fry's the selection is larger and they have everything down to the CMOS speakers and LED replacements. Also might be that the stores that the original author of is used to doesn't have a large selection of computer parts and they all have to be shipped in from a warehouse. Alas I'm responding to a comment 6 years later and BB didn't have much for computers dodads back then. TonySki (talk) 22:21, 1 November 2018 (UTC)