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<div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false">In a long long ago time, there were installfests in San Jose and the Fry's on Brokaw was nearby if someone needed a cable or blank CD.</div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><br></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false">Having started as a hardware guy, Fry's and also Radio Shack were very useful if I was building something and </div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false">discovered I needed, for example, a headphone connector or some wire in different colors. If I planned ahead, </div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false">there were alternate suppliers. But sometimes there is one last piece so I can finish today.</div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><br></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false">I particularly miss HSC in Sunnyvale. I didn't mind digging through bins of unpackaged parts. </div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false">Sometimes that was a plus because I could make sure their connector would fit with the one I had.</div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><br></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false">The need for a large parking lot was not a problem with the existing stores. I believe they actually owned the land for many of the stores.</div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false">There was a news item some time ago about selling the Brokaw location to a developer. </div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><br></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false">As for "human transportation", unless you were buying a washing machine, most of what Fry's sold could fit in a backpack and then you </div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false">hop on your bicycle. </div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><br></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false">Fry's was once a privately-owned grocery-store chain. The next generation decided that selling computers</div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false">might be better than selling bread. The original store had roughly equal floor space for mother boards, frozen pizza, and soft drinks.</div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false">Everything a computer nerd might need. Also a huge rack of magazines. They understood that technology expires, just like bananas. </div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false">Hence weekly and even daily specials, not unlike Safeway.</div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><br></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false">Total speculation: Maybe the "computer generation" of Fry's ownership has decided they want to retire. Selling the stores to </div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false">developers will let them buy a ranch in Montana or an island in the tropics.</div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><br></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><br></div><div><br></div>
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On Wednesday, February 24, 2021, 08:55:18 AM PST, Rick Moen <rick@linuxmafia.com> wrote:
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<div>Quoting Nick Moffitt (<a href="mailto:nick@zork.net" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">nick@zork.net</a>):<br><br>> I have no particular fondness for the services the stores offered<br>> themselves, but I did like that you could get to the Concord branch by<br>> BART. All the others were too far away from normal human transport<br>> systems to be even remotely accessible.<br><br>True with a couple of exceptions. The Palo Alto and Sunnyvale ones were<br>within walking distance of CalTrain staions, if you stretch the concept<br>of normal human transport just slightly to include a heavy-rail commuter<br>train system straight out of the 1950s with a somewhat iffy frequency of<br>service.<br><br>Otherwise, I suspect their boonies locations reflected their need to<br>find a huge piece of cheap land with not only a hulking warehouse store<br>but also an enormous parking lot around it. What one might call<br>Suburban Costco Syndrome.<br><br><br>_______________________________________________<br>conspire mailing list<br><a href="mailto:conspire@linuxmafia.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">conspire@linuxmafia.com</a><br><a href="http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/conspire" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/conspire</a><br></div>
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