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Comment by jonny_eh | Hacker News Reader

> It's clear Amazon and online retailing has decimated them

And yet, somehow, Best Buy is doing fine apparently.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jillgriffin/2018/07/27/best-buy...

Which I find a bit annoying; what I like about Fry's is that they have low-level components in addition to the high-level stuff. With Radio Shack closing, and Fry's probably closing soon, the only non-internet place left that I'll be able to purchase components will be Micro Center.

My point is, Best Buy has never been a one-to-one comparison to me. There are things that Fry's has that Best Buy simply doesn't.

Frys' component selection used to be good. But nowadays it feels like a throwback to the 90s -- they still carry a ton of parts for repairing CRT TVs [1], yet they don't have a single microcontroller or flash chip in the entire aisle, and their prices for basic logic chips like [2] are ridiculous.

[1]: https://www.frys.com/product/1000013 [2]: https://www.frys.com/product/1003503

Best Buy price matches to Amazon. They also work with cashback services and often times gives you a $5 coupon after purchasing a certain amount. Finally, they also let you return open boxes, no questions asked. Forgot to mention, you can do same day pick up for an item.

Around three years ago, bestbuy realized that they would need to make some sort of change. They did and their stores got better. It still isn't a replacement for what Fry's used to be.

But my point was that Fry's could have made changes too. It's very possible to compete with Amazon.

Yeah, it does look a bit like they just rolled over. Still, bestbuy and frys are not directly comparable imo. Micro Center is more analogous to frys. Somewhere else in the thread someone pointed that they had to bail out of california.

Fry's did make changes. Maybe not as many as Best Buy, but they do price match Amazon, last I checked.

At the same time bestbuy started price matching, the also stepped up their customer service, return policy, and stock.

Fry’s literally does all that, except for maybe the $5 coupon.

Best Buy often has better prices than Amazon. Since last year I find myself always double-checking the price of anything I want outside Amazon and for big items (e.g. TV, tv stand, etc.) Best Buy is a first choice for sure.

Not only that, but have you ever tried shopping for something like a laptop on Amazon? The descriptions are all three lines long and by the time you figure out what the hell you're buying you could just drive to Best Buy and see a display that clearly explains what's on offer.

Dell developer laptops are pretty good, not to mention Apple if you can put up with them.

I like Lenovo, personally.

Agreed... I've had relatively bad luck on mail ordered laptops and monitors in particular, stick to a physical location I can return them to in general. Walmart seems like a decent middle ground with online to store and returns.

The funny thing is that Best Buy also price matches bestbuy.com :)

Every time I go in there I have to ask the cashier for the price on the web site. The stores and site have different prices. I guess it makes sense because you capture 5% from everyone who doesn't bother to do that.

Just bought a new 3700x and 5700xt at best buy this week, I'm surprised I could that in person. I actively try to avoid purchasing anything at Amazon. They are Mr. Robot's EvilCorp in real life. Can't support that.

I'll admit it, I love shopping at Best Buy. I much prefer purchasing anything at the local store and actively avoid Amazon if at all possible.

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