I built a PC once from parts that I bought at Fry's. It was a really fun experience going down to store, seeing what parts were on sale, chatting with a no-nonsense saleswoman, walking out with a big shopping cart full of PC components, and assembling it and booting it up that same day.
Some quirks of shopping at Fry's that I remember:
* The sales associates always insisting on printing me out a fairly meaningless "quote" that matched the sticker on the shelf, and having me present it at the register. I'm not sure if their sales commissions were tied to printing out quotes, or if it was intended to prevent pricing mistakes, but any interaction with a sales person always resulted in a quote.
* Watching people at the returns counter navigate through their completely arcane computer system (a text-based "green screen" in the age of the iPhone) with surprising grace.
* Perhaps the least atmospheric cafe ever built, placed smack dab in the middle of the store with no windows to the outside world or natural lighting. I don't think I ever saw anybody eating there.
* The loud background music that would play... some kind of (classical?) solo piano music that didn't fit either the Western theme or the general feel of the store. Between the lighting and the music I always left the store with a headache
Despite some of the negatives above, I always really enjoyed shopping at Fry's and would try to buy things there whenever I had the chance. What eventually ruined Fry's for me though was just the lack of inventory. I would want to buy something and Newegg or Amazon would have it in stock, but Fry's wouldn't. A couple times their website would even list an item as being in stock, and I would brave the 101 traffic to drive down to Palo Alto only to find it was actually sold out. I also eventually switched to using mostly Apple products, which offer fewer choices, are harder to tinker with, and are priced pretty consistently across all retail outlets (with the exception of Microcenter who used to run some pretty decent in-store-only sales on MacBooks before their Santa Clara store closed down).
The "quote" was always about getting a commission.
When I used to shop at Fry's, if I knew the product I wanted I made it a game to avoid getting a time-wasting "quote". I would avoid making eye contact with any salesperson, grab the product I wanted, and make a mad dash out of that aisle.
Of course even if you got a "quote" you could crumple it up and just go to the register with your product. It would be the same price to you either way.
One time I picked out a $20 camera case without any help from a salesperson - I didn't need a discussion of the features of each case, I had my camera with me and just wanted to try them out to see which one I liked that fit the camera!
When I started to walk away with my choice, the salesperson flagged me down and insisted that I needed a quote. And then they wrapped it around the case and taped it down on all sides!
At that point I didn't have the heart to tear the quote off the case and deny them their fifty cent commission.
Great comment! I recall all those quirks in my fond old memories of Fry's! The multiple trees killed by quote sheets; the lack of seeing anyone patron the Cafe, and the classical music (which I actually enjoyed but clashed with my store's theme). It's funny you mention their antique POS system (Novell NetWare based IIRC? overhearing from a sales associate once) since it seems like Micro Center and Costco both use similar text-based POS systems to this day.
On a visit back to my native Southern California last Winter, I ended trying to rekindle old memories by taking a trip with my dad and neighbor to our local Fry's. Sadly, we all had a collective shock experiencing the lack of cars in the parking lot, sales associates on the floor, and the large empty spaces on once full shelves. The place seemed like a shell of its former self. After not being able to find whatever I was looking for at the time, I later made the trek down to Micro Center, which I recall not only had my item in stock, had shelves full of product, a store full of employees, and a parking lot full of cars. It definitely fit my bill of being able to drive to a brick and mortar store, to quickly pickup a part and getting straight to using it, especially when one cannot afford to wait days for shipped product.
Some quirks of shopping at Fry's that I remember:
* The sales associates always insisting on printing me out a fairly meaningless "quote" that matched the sticker on the shelf, and having me present it at the register. I'm not sure if their sales commissions were tied to printing out quotes, or if it was intended to prevent pricing mistakes, but any interaction with a sales person always resulted in a quote.
* Watching people at the returns counter navigate through their completely arcane computer system (a text-based "green screen" in the age of the iPhone) with surprising grace.
* Perhaps the least atmospheric cafe ever built, placed smack dab in the middle of the store with no windows to the outside world or natural lighting. I don't think I ever saw anybody eating there.
* The loud background music that would play... some kind of (classical?) solo piano music that didn't fit either the Western theme or the general feel of the store. Between the lighting and the music I always left the store with a headache
Despite some of the negatives above, I always really enjoyed shopping at Fry's and would try to buy things there whenever I had the chance. What eventually ruined Fry's for me though was just the lack of inventory. I would want to buy something and Newegg or Amazon would have it in stock, but Fry's wouldn't. A couple times their website would even list an item as being in stock, and I would brave the 101 traffic to drive down to Palo Alto only to find it was actually sold out. I also eventually switched to using mostly Apple products, which offer fewer choices, are harder to tinker with, and are priced pretty consistently across all retail outlets (with the exception of Microcenter who used to run some pretty decent in-store-only sales on MacBooks before their Santa Clara store closed down).