[TriLUG] Article on Radio Shack's Demise

[Steve Litt via TriLUG]

On Wed, 18 Feb 2015 10:06:29 -0800 (PST)
Joseph Mack NA3T via TriLUG <trilug at trilug.org> wrote:

> On Wed, 18 Feb 2015, Joseph Mack NA3T wrote:
> 
> >> http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21643461-radio-shack-lost-its-way-when-it-ditched-its-hobbyist-customers-making-it
> 
> the author seems to think that Fry's got it right. Every mention of
> Fry's in forums I see is by someone who hates the place.
> 
> Joe

I hated Fry's. Living in the San Fernando Valley (just north of LA)
1989-1998, I got ample opportunity to go to Fry's, mostly for computer
parts and accessories. Every single time, I knew more than the
salespeople. One time I got berated for looking in a part of the store
that I wasn't supposed to be in, but wasn't marked as such. Their
prices were so-so, their quality substandard.

But my big bitch about Fry's was the same as everybody else's: Shop
there enough times, and you'll be detained or arrested for shoplifting.
In my case, it was buying a tape drive that had, as a promotion, an
extra tape inside the shrink wrap. I bought it, headed out through
security (with a guy in an actual police looking security uniform), and
the security guard ripped my tape right out of the shrink wrap, held it
up, and in a threatening voice said "what's this!" He then demanded I
"stay right here."

I swear to God, the security guy looked like George Zimmerman
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Zimmerman), but of course George
Zimmerman was twelve when this incident occurred.

My first reaction was that of a paranoid 20 year old who gets stopped by
the cops every half mile. But I was about 45. My next thought was to
smash the ignoroso's face flat, but I had two year old triplets at
home: My brawling days were over. So I told him it's a long time since
I was accused of being a thief, and demanded he get the store manager,
right now. 

So the manager comes over. He's a short, scrawny, pimply 19 year old
with all sorts facial tics, and I immediately felt sorry for him. The
manager said he was sorry, but people were walking out right and left
with merchandise. In other words, he called me a thief all over again.
But the poor manager was so pitiful I just couldn't get mad at him: I
said OK and left, giving the security guard the evil eye once more.

I heard stories just like mine, over and over, about shopping at Fry's.
One of my buddies told me that the cops were so used to bullshit
shoplifting arrests at Fry's that after "arresting" the
"shoplifter" in the store, they used to drive the "perp" around the
corner, let him out in the alley, and tell him not to go back to Fry's
for a while.

LOL, Fry's.

SteveT

Steve Litt                *  http://www.troubleshooters.com/
Troubleshooting Training  *  Human Performance