[usrlocaletc]

I've built clone PCs since the early 80's, and worked at Egghead Software in San Jose as an assistant manager in high school. I remember the Fry's grocery store and the original Sunnyvale Fry's way back and the multitude of independent shops, WeirdStuff Warehouse, MicroCenter, Central Computer, JDR Microdevices, Pixel USA (did a lot of business with Tony). There were a zillion independent shops' ads listed in Computer Shopper (it was a good 1.5" / 4 cm thick).

CompUSA (a big, hypermart-style tech and electronics retailer) came in and killed Egghead (the shops were just too small to compete) and most other mom & pop's; I was there at the closing firesale. And later Comp USA also succumbed. Fry's was more of a pseudo-flea-market with cheezy looking price signs, and full-page ads in the San Jose Mercury News... their big draw was the Black Friday deals where people line up like people line up at Walmart.

Nowadays: NewEgg, PriceWatch.com, FindChips, OctoPart, Halted (HSC), AliExpress, eBay, Amazon

If you want to save some money, bargains can also be had traveling to a certain building or two in Shenzhen / Huaqiangbei; and it helps to have a friend who speaks fluent Mandarin. See also:

- https://strangeparts.com

- https://youtu.be/sZs4NDC4yrI

- https://youtu.be/tUXIzJpjEuU

PS: The Fry's pictured in the story is the Campbell location where it was fun to run up/down the flat "escalator" as it was like an airport's people-mover, but much bouncier.

[intopieces]

>PS: The Fry's pictured in the story is the Campbell location where it was fun to run up/down the flat "escalator" as it was like an airport's people-mover, but much bouncier.

The Fry's in the picture is the one on Brokaw Road in San Jose, not Campbell. It's Inca themed. The Campbell store is Egyptian themed.

[watersb]

Fry's is still a grocery chain in Arizona, though now it's indistinguishable from any other Kroger's brand.

Weird Stuff, I miss you.

My Fry's was the Palo Alto store, the truck painted with the Fry's logo parked at that parking lot on El Camino Real showing when to go.

[rbanffy]

I wonder where did all the weird stuff in Weird Stuff end up. Haven't visited the Valley since their demise was announced. I'd probably find a way to go pick up an IBM Selectric and a couple RS-232 terminals. You never know when you'll need those.

[Stratoscope]

I loved the bouncy moving rubber ramp at the Campbell Fry's! I used to take my daughters there when they were very young and we would run up and down the ramp.

It almost got them interested in electronics. Alas, not quite.