[conspire] (forw) What's going on with Fry's Electronics?

[Rick Moen]

This was my earlier reply to Gary.  His initial posting
(http://www.leibmanland.com/pipermail/lug-nuts/2019-September/051530.html) 
was a lazy handwave lamenting and comparing what he belived the imminent
demise of Fry's Electronis and Firefox.  His main goal appeared to be to
scare up help with his Raspberry Pi / Firefox problem, which owed
ultimately to him having been unaware of the last few years of Firefox
history.  However, here in my first response, I ignore all Gary's bits
about Firefox and related what is known about goings-on at Fry's.

(Frankly, I really won't miss Fry's _very_ much if it _does_ all go away.
It's pretty unsatisfactory compared to Central Computer -- which of
course isn't an option for Gary up in Sacramento.  For decades, Fry's
has been acres of stuff I mostly wouldn't want to buy, in which are
buried a small subset I'd consider.)

----- Forwarded message from Rick Moen <rick at linuxmafia.com> -----

Date: Sun, 15 Sep 2019 02:20:13 -0700
From: Rick Moen <rick at linuxmafia.com>
To: lug-nuts at saclug.org
Subject: Re: [Lug-nuts] Firefox and Frys
Organization: If you lived here, you'd be $HOME already.

Quoting Gary (saclug at garymcglinn.com):

> I get the impression both the Firefox browser and Frys are on the way out.

I'm going to disregard the matter of Firefox.

> I was just at Fry's and there is a lot of empty space.

Many people have noticed this at all of their outlets.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/09/10/frys-tries-to-quell-rumors-of-its-demise-as-customers-worry-about-empty-shelves/

  Some Fry's customers on Twitter are wondering whether the company is
  going out of business because it's so easy to order stuff from Amazon.
  Others are speculating the dearth of goods may have something to do with
  President Donald Trump's tariff war with China.

  That's what an employee at the Campbell store told Jim McClure last
  week.

  "I found an employee sitting at a desk in the middle of the store, and
  he said 'because of the tariffs, we're having trouble getting our
  inventory,'" McClure, a retired firefighter from San Jose, said
  Tuesday.

  In response to inquiries by this news organization, a spokesman for the
  San Jose-based retailer said Tuesday that the company is "converting
  most of its suppliers to consignment," and that its shelves will be
  restocked over the next few weeks.

  "We are not liquidating or planning to close any stores," Manuel Valerio
  said in an email. That is except the Palo Alto store, which will close
  in January because of an expiring lease, he said.


----- End forwarded message -----