Fry's electronics is a tiki theme store?

Call me a dumb ass, but I totally forgot that frys was a tiki themed electronics store, at least the one in the south bay. For those of you that have never seen one, imagine best-buy gone full tilt tiki!. What I want to know is has it always been that way?.I know I was grinning like an idiot (comes natural) when I saw all the bamboo and tikis everywhere, too strange.

Yes indeed. The Fry's store in Manhattan Beach has a Tiki/Polynesian theme. But as far as I know, it is the only Fry's like that. Other Fry's have different themes.

I have not seen these but have heard the following:

The one in Fountain Valley is a Roman theme.
The Burbank Fry's has a sci-fi theme.
Woodland Hills is an Alice in Wonderland theme.

I'm sure there are more.

The Fry's I frequent for geeky retail therapy (in Palo Alto) has a Gold Rush / Wild West theme.

Each Fry's store has a different theme. The Manhattan Beach Fry's is tiki themed. It is, to the best of my knowledge, the only one.

Now I'm gonna have to run into the Houston location.But I wouldn't hold my breath for anything real cool. It'll prob be western themed knowing the mentality of the area.but...being this close to the coast...Hope springs eternal.

It is my understanding that Fry's has dropped the 'theming' of future locations. Boo on Frys.

I'll have to chat with my buyer regarding this sad piece of hear-say.... I like the theme concept. I know they've been adding stores left and right as of late; perhaps they are simply running out of ideas...

Which means that a contest is in order!

I'll bring it up during CES and see what happens!

On 2004-12-28 21:45, twowheelin'tiki wrote:
Call me a dumb ass

Your a dumb ass. :)
Hey TWT! Long time.

All right, so who is going to volunteer to take pictures?

Unga, it took you long enough!.As far as photos go, when I get my HP 720 digital fixed from its "viagra lens syndrome" (fully extended lens, constantly)I will shoot some photos of the south bay store.

Viagara lens syndrome, I like that.

Someone posted pictures once--I did a quick search with no luck. Maybe it was on the old Yahoo site-

Here's a list of Fry's locations and their themes (from frys.com):

In Northern California:

• Sunnyvale's marble floors and grand piano elegantly display the history of Silicon Valley with hi-tech museum pieces
• Palo Alto brings you into Wild Bill's Wild, Wild West
• Campbell's ancient Egypt theme has a 20-foot sphinx and King Tut tombs
• Fremont is dedicated to the origins of electricity as featured at the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago
• San Jose pays tribute to the first astronomers, the Mayans, with a setting from Chichenitza.
• Concord is the newest addition to the Bay Area market.

In Southern California:

• Fountain Valley hails the ruins of ancient Rome, complete with a flowing aqueduct
• Manhattan Beach takes you to Tahiti with sculpted lava tiki heads and its own rain forest
• Woodland Hills is a page out of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland storybook, with 10 to 15 foot high figurines of all the characters
• Anaheim places you on the NASA flight deck for the Endeavor Space Shuttle, complete with launches on big screen TV's
• Burbank pulls you back in time to the 1950's with a retro-space theme from Hollywood, complete with Martians and Gort, the robot
• City of Industry where the factory setting is a salute to the Industrial Revolution complete with oversized gears and cogs
• The mystical civilization of Atlantis is alive and thriving in San Marcos with numerous aquatic features including a 7000 gallon aquarium with live sharks.

In Arizona:

• Phoenix features a giant serpent above the entrance which is emblematic of its Aztec design.

In Texas:

• Dallas' Lazy-K ranch is reminiscent of it's cattle ranching history
• Houston showcases the oil industry replete with a field of gushing oil derricks
• Austin is a tribute to the city's reputation as the "Live Music Capital of the World"
• Irving features a pictorial history of the community which was founded in the early 1900s and named after Washington Irving
• Plano depicts the city's evolution from a farming community to a modern-day urban center of commerce

In Nevada:

• the Las Vegas entrance welcomes customers with the world's largest slot machine and features a pictoral history of the Vegas Strip inside

In Washington:

• our Renton store features a historical depiction of the industrial evolution of the community with photographs of the Stetson Mill in 1911 and the originally-built Boeing plant in 1941.

The Sacramento, San Diego, Tempe, Wilsonville, and Arlington stores are all works in progress.

I have been to the San Diego store. If it has a theme, it would be best described as Wal-Mart.

Ok you people that go to the Palo Alto store, make sure to check the painting of the lady behind the check out counter. It is so totally a drag queen, the first time I saw it I couldn't take my eyes off of it, and I want to have it so bad!

On 2004-12-29 21:04, Esperanza wrote:
It is so totally a drag queen, the first time I saw it I couldn't take my eyes off of it, and I want to have it so bad!

I agree -- everything on that wall lookd a bit odd.

I was just in the Fry's in Manhattan Beach on Monday & noticed carved wooden inserts in the concrete by the front door; old, faded inserts carved with a tropical, tapacloth-like pattern. I also noticed that the Tikis inside were very weatherworn, but that the bamboo & palapa shades looked fairly new. Was the MB Fry's specifically built with the Tiki theme, or was the building formerly a Tiki themed place & Fry's kept the theme? And did the Tikis come from another place?

On 2004-12-29 20:43, cynfulcynner wrote:
Here's a list of Fry's locations and their themes (from frys.com):

In Northern California:

• Campbell's ancient Egypt theme has a 20-foot sphinx and King Tut tombs

I went to this one about 4 years ago it's was pretty cool but it did leave me wondering what electronics had to do with King Tut or the name Fry's. I will sleep a little better tonight now that I know. Thanks Cyn!

Chongolio

I was in the Fry's in Plano, TX a couple of months ago. I asked the guy working near the turntables which ones had a built in pre-amp. He said "oh yeah, you can hook this 'ting up to your stereo, and it'll play your old records and stuff."

On 2005-12-21 20:17, Kenike wrote:
He said "oh yeah, you can hook this 'ting up to your stereo, and it'll play your old records and stuff."

:roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll:

Fry's also owns an arena-league football team called the San Jose Saber Cats. When the Saber Cats play and those Saber Kittens Dance, the trailer parks empty out for MILES around.

(Insert dukes of hazzard yell here)

The Saber Cats have an icon of some sort of extinct leopard like animal, however the owner didn't want a mascot...SO they have a guy who comes out on a Harley all in leather before kick-offs, and flexes is arms to get the crowd in a frenzy.

I would say this is the bloke from Esparanza's Palo Alto Store painting...

So...the Football Team theme is a cross between Trailer Trash and maybe Felchqueen?

On 2005-12-22 07:16, Gigantalope wrote:
Fry's also owns an arena-league football team called the San Jose Saber Cats.

That explains why Fry's is always selling so much Saber Cats merchandise.

Does anyone actually watch arena football?

"I have been to the San Diego store. If it has a theme, it would be best described as Wal-Mart."

LOL

"The Saber Cats have an icon of some sort of extinct leopard like animal"

You mean a saber-toothed tiger?

On 2004-12-29 20:51, PiPhiRho wrote:
I have been to the San Diego store. If it has a theme, it would be best described as Wal-Mart.

..with a dash of Used Car Salesman to complete the illusion.

On 2004-12-29 20:51, PiPhiRho wrote:
I have been to the San Diego store. If it has a theme, it would be best described as Wal-Mart.

It was originally a failed Radio Shack spin-off called "Incredible Universe." It was supposed to be like a night club in a warehouse described with Disney-speak. All the employees were "Cast Members," and there was a DJ & light show in the central area where the computer accessories are now.

I've been to the Manhattan Beach Fry's- it is indeed TIKIFIED.

I got the distinct vibe, however, that the building might have at one time been a large Polynesian restaurant or something, and that rather than remodel all the tiki/hawaiian stuff out- they just adapted and went with the theme.

Seems like something Fry's would do to cut corners :/

Its definitely worth a photo mission though- trust me on that

Your wish is my command...

I've added a thread to the LOCATING TIKI forum with some pictures I took this May.
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=17784&forum=2&start=last&1

I don't think the building was ever Polynesian or Tiki-related before Fry's took it over. I think I remember it originally being a bank or office building. Maybe Doctor Z remembers better.

Sabu

[ Edited by: Sabu The Coconut Boy 2005-12-31 01:18 ]

I beg to differ. The building looks like it was specifically built as a Fry's and was not owned by anyone else.

The name comes from the founders, the Frys brothers.

The Burbank store would also be of interest to TC members perhaps, with its 1950's B-movie theme. (A bit off topic, but bear with me) The small description above doesn't do it justice:

*There is a giant flying saucer crashing into the building above the front door.
*Inside a full-blown martian invasion is in progress
*The whole store is like a large 1950's town: there is a "service station" which is the returns counter, the check out area is made up like a large diner, and in the back is a small cafe which is made up like a drive-in theatre with real 1950's cars in it, that you sit in while you drink your latte and eat your muffin or burrito
*The tops of all the "buildings" are festooned with "little green men" in space suits, holding ray guns and blasting people
*Statues of a highway patrol officer on a motorcycle freaking out, and a full size Army jeep being cut in half by a laser beam
*An even bigger "flying saucer" with revolving lights at the back of the store, which is actually the high-end audio demonstration room
*There's a giant Gort-esque robot holding a large-breasted blonde in his arms

• Finally, at the computer department, there's a 20-foot tall octupus monster breaking through the walls and the floor. His giant tentacles hold up the computer display tables, which look like chunks of floor being pushed up by the tentacles.

Yowch.