Huh. I've never been in a Frys before, but boy is that a strange decor choice. Aztec stylings to sell brand new tech? I guess I see the juxtaposition, but still...

The death of Frys was one of those that took so much longer than it should. The last time I went into a Frys was a fluke as I had thought it was already out of business. Walking around inside was surreal as the inventory was sad with the vast majority of shelves empty. I remember taking pics at the time of just how much a shadow itself it really was. I just couldn't fathom why someone had allowed the stores to stay open that long.

I miss Frys...

>>it doesn't fill the yawning void left by

Or Gateway Electronics in St Louis

My favorite place as a kid XD I still get excited thinking about it haha

I always wondered why my Ohio hometown had a Microcenter (grew up near Cincinnati), now it makes sense! I had no idea they started in Ohio.

the American Akihabara, land of the khaki otakus

5090's, yes. The one in Santa Clara has had them in stock for months. FE, no. Not sure if those are even produced anymore.

Microcenter costs are often competitive, plus you don’t have to worry about counterfeits.

Where else would you be buying equivalents online anyway?

I thought the same, then I ended up spending >$10k there this year because the pricing was great and I didn't have to wait for shipping. It really is a great place.

It's also great for items likely to be scalped. It doesn't guarantee they'll have stock, but it sure is easier to beat scalpers to checking the store that day than bots to an online cart. I even got a Switch 2 bundle the day after launch at MSRP while there for something else. Edit: shit, prices are worse all around now. Glad I didn't wait :D.

It’s okay for you to not get everything. This one is simple, it’s just not for you. You don’t get it because it wasn’t built for you.

have you heard of the phase “like a kid in a candy store”?

there’s just something about the in store experience that’s different than online.

Microcenter is also known for having better prices than online retailers, but they don’t ship for many items

Microcenter has a pretty good reputation for having knowledgeable enough staff. Plus, discovery tends to be a lot better in a curated brick and mortar than online. And sometimes you just want to see and buy cool stuff that you didn't know you wanted.

Ironically the reason why it's popular is that it's got many items that otherwise you can only get online, which is also the reason why you find it useless since you prefer the online experience.

Speaking as an Australian, to me it would be a dream to be able to drive to a place like that and getting those things in store as opposed to ordering online then waiting days or sometimes weeks for delivery.

There is also the factor of being able to see the item in person, and perhaps hold it in your hands, might not be very relevant for something like RAM sticks, but it certainly is for something like a gaming controller for example.

Online shopping of fashion items can never replace the experience of physical shopping, especially with friends. Geeks are no different... shopping can be a delightful experience if you are up for it. Part of which might be the thrill of discovering things you are not searching for.

> I'm actually genuinely baffled to see geeks lining up for a Costco-like experience to get stuff that you can easily get online without needing to get into a car.

"Why go to a fine restaurant when you can just stick something in the microwave? Why go to the park and fly a kite when you can just pop a pill?" - Kramer, Seinfeld

I agree. Microcenter seems to sell a lot of flashy shiny garbage and not enough or at all of what matters — like cables or adapters.

It’s more a best buy than fry’s electronics.

We had a recently opened one here in the Bay Area — I went there once, having heard good things. Never again. It’s a bullshit emporium.

I bought a 3D printer from my Denver Microcenter a few weeks ago. It's not available on Amazon, and only ships from China (it's a BambuLab H2D). It gives peace of mind that if something goes wrong I can just return it locally rather than deal with shipping a 50 pound printer back to China. Same goes for a MinisForum NAS I bought a few months ago. Plus, whenever I need a one-off USB cable, thumb drive, or printer filament, it's a 15 minute drive.

Also: they're always packed on the weekends. There is definitely demand for a brick and mortar store that focuses on tech/geek hobbies.

This doesn't answer your question, but its an interesting fact:

Microcenter has enough swag to get their own exclusive CPU SKUs from AMD.

The upside is that if you need a particular thing, you can go buy it immediately, not only that you can actually see the product and potential try to a degree before buying it.

For me, its seeing cases in person and being able to see how they compare for size rather than trying to estimate online.

As someone in Australia where we have pretty poor computer electronics stores for PC parts, this place is like heaven on earth.

To you its an introverts nightmare, but clearly for many geeks its not who are lining up.