Kinda-but-not-terribly sorry to hear the news that the Fry's Electronics chain is closing down. I often patronized them, though not in a long time…and the last few times I was in one, I couldn't find a single thing I wanted to purchase. Which was odd because once upon a time, a Fry's was this weird place where you could wander around and find some cheap gizmo or gimmick you never knew anyone made but it might come in useful in your life.
And all the time, you'd be asking yourself questions. Questions like…
"What was on the minds of the people who designed this place?"
"Where did they find some of this stuff?"
And most of all, "Where do I find some of this stuff?" Because there didn't seem to be a lot of logic to where they put things. If you went in there looking for a cable to connect your whatchamacallit to your thingamabob, they probably had it but God Knows Where. (And don't bother asking a store employee because none of them had heard of whatchamacallits or thingamabobs and some of them didn't seem like they'd even heard of light bulbs.)
In a way, it was fun. In a way, it was frustrating. But it was always the cheapest place to buy anything…on the off chance you could find it. And there were always a few items you could study for days and not know what the hell they were. I guess the question I most asked myself was "How is this place still in business?"
And now they aren't…or won't be. I'm not sure this is a Pandemic-related death because I think they were closing stores before the plague got to us. I know that the kind of things I used to buy at Fry's, I now obtain way more conveniently — and usually for around the same price points — from Amazon. I suppose I could miss The Thrill of the Hunt but I don't think I will. Wonder what's going to go into all those huge buildings.