Fry's Electronics Suddenly Goes Out of Business and Closes All Stores

2020 was a rough year for retailers, and 2021 hasn't been easy either. The coronavirus pandemic continues to have a significant impact on retailers across the country, and last night we learned that Fry's Electronics, a longtime electronics staple, is shutting down all 31 of its stores and ceasing operation. The news came in the middle of the night last night from a store employee (via Bill Reynolds), who revealed that all of Fry's locations were closing as of that night. A statement was expected early this morning, and now Fry's has updated their website with the following message, confirming that they are closing all of their locations permanently. You can read their full statement below.

"After nearly 36 years in business as the one-stop-shop and online resource for high-tech professionals across nine states and 31 stores, Fry's Electronics, Inc. ("Fry's" or "Company"), has made the difficult decision to shut down its operations and close its business permanently as a result of changes in the retail industry and the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic. The Company will implement the shut down through an orderly wind down process that it believes will be in the best interests of the Company, its creditors, and other stakeholders.

The Company ceased regular operations and began the wind-down process on February 24, 2021. It is hoped that undertaking the wind-down through this orderly process will reduce costs, avoid additional liabilities, minimize the impact on our customers, vendors, landlords and associates, and maximize the value of the Company's assets for its creditors and other stakeholders.

The Company is in the process of reaching out to its customers with repairs and consignment vendors to help them understand what this will mean for them and the proposed next steps.

If you have questions, please contact us using the following email addresses:

For customers who have equipment currently being repaired, please email customerservice@frys.com, to arrange for return of your equipment.

For customers with items needing repair under a Performance Service Contract, please call (800) 811-1745.

For consignment vendors needing to pick up their consignment inventory at Fry's locations, please email omnichannel@frys.com.

Please understand if we are a bit slow to respond given the large volume of questions. The Company appreciates your patience and support through this process.

Sincerely,

Fry's Electronics"

The news resulted in many sharing photos of their recent shopping experiences at the store, showing lots of empty shelves. It also prompted many to share their memories of the store and what it used to be, and like many, I have fond memories of going to the one-stop shop of electronics, where you could get pretty much everything to build a computer a few aisles over from gaming consoles, and that was a few steps from a massive CD, DVD, and appliance section with a cafe right in the middle. Granted, that was a while ago (when places still had CD sections mind you), but it's still sad to see it go.