Regarding the San Marcos store, it is definitely going down. I know. I work there. At least I think I do...Fry's rarely fires anybody. They just don't give any hours to the people they don't need anymore. They're just hoping we'll all kind of drift away.
But no, to see what's happened to Fry's, to have lived it day by day watching the spaces on the shelves slowly grow in size until they connect up with the other spaces, to have looked into the defeated eyes of my fellow associates and friends as we roam the empty aisles together has been sad only...sad truly...
Nobody wanted to see this happen. I heard from a lot of customers who said Fry's was like an institution in their lives. They LOVED to come in and just walk around, checking out ALL the crazy stuff we sold. One man told me that he had a brother-in-law who lived out of state and whenever they came on vacation, a visit to Fry's was always at the top of the list of what he wanted to do while in San Diego. I really loved working at Fry's and I'll tell you why. It was because of the other associates.
And I'm not the only one who felt that way. I've heard so many say exactly the same thing. I've never worked anywhere before where so many people from such diverse backgrounds got along so well. We all genuinely seemed to like one another for the most part. And we all worked so hard to make Fry's a truly unique shopping experience for our customers. I can tell you what did us in, in case you haven't figured it out yet. Amazon.com.
But I'm not harboring ill will toward Amazon. I think it was inevitable. Kind of like when the white man came to America and took it from the Indians. If we hadn't done it, someone else would have. It was inevitable. What could we do? You can't expect people to pay more for something when they can get it for less. It's math, not magic.
Here's the last thing I want to say.
Since we entered the tech age some 70 odd years ago, society has undergone the most profound and revolutionary changes the world has ever known. And I am proud to say that Fry's Electronics has reigned as a leader in an industry that has come to the forefront and stood on the cutting edge of mankind's most rapidly evolving culture ever realized and we held that place for 34 wondrous years. Everything has its time in the sun and boy did we have ours.
At long last and with heavy heart it is time to say...
The King is dead... Long live the King!!!