citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . september 2012 learn how and when to remove this template message fry s electronics inc. type private industry consumer electronics retail founded 1985 ; 31 years ago 1985 founder john fry william randolph randy fry david fry kathryn kolder headquarters san jose california u.s. number of locations 34 key people john fry ceo william randolph randy fry president david fry cfo cio kathryn kolder executive vice president revenue 2.00 billion 2011 1 number of employees 13 999 2011 1 website frys.com fry s electronics is an american big box store and retailer of software consumer electronics household appliances and computer hardware . fry s has in store computer repair and custom computer building services . the company has a chain of superstores headquartered in silicon valley . starting with one store located in sunnyvale california the chain posted sales of 2.4 billion and operated 34 stores in nine states by 2008 . 2 contents 1 history 1.1 store themes 2 criticism 3 online sales operation 4 domain name acquisitions 5 references 6 external links history edit industrial revolution themed store in the city of industry california . fry s electronics store in downers grove illinois . fry s electronics oldest operating store in palo alto california . history of silicon valley themed store in sunnyvale california . space station themed store near the johnson space center in webster texas . in 1972 charles fry sold the fry s supermarkets chain based in california for us 14 million to save mart supermarkets . he gave a portion of the proceeds approximately 1 million to each of his sons john w. randolph who goes by the nickname randy and david none of whom had much interest in grocery store retailing . 3 4 instead in 1985 they joined together with a fourth partner john s former girlfriend kathryn kolder to open the first fry s electronics store at a 20 000 sq ft 1 900 m2 site in sunnyvale california . 5 today fry s food and drug stores are owned and operated by kroger and are not affiliated with fry s electronics although they share an almost identical logo . 6 the original sunnyvale store located near the intersection of oakmead parkway and lakeside drive stocked numerous high tech supplies such as integrated circuits test and measurement equipment and computer components as well as software and various other types of consumer electronics . the store was and still is one of the few retail outlets in the country that sold off the shelf microprocessors such as the intel 80286 . the store also sold t shirts technical books potato chips and magazines including playboy . at first approximately half the store was stocked with groceries including fresh produce but the groceries section quickly diminished to displays of soft drinks and snack foods . the store billed itself as the one stop shop for the silicon valley professional as one could buy both electronics and groceries computer chips and potato chips at the same time . citation needed as the business expanded the original sunnyvale store was closed when and a newer larger store was opened across lawrence expressway on kern avenue . the second sunnyvale store was designed to look like the interior of a giant computer ; the walls were adorned with simulated circuit components and the floor resembled a giant printed circuit board . the exterior was painted to mimic a huge dip integrated circuit and the door handles imitated the enter and esc keys on a computer keyboard ; as of 2007 this store is now a sports basement store which still bears some of the door handle keys . fry s moved again when to its current sunnyvale location on the corner of arques and santa trinita ave the former site of a facility of the link flight simulation division of the singer corporation . each of the sunnyvale store locations has been located within one mile 1600 meters of the others . citation needed in 1996 for reasons that the fry brothers have never publicly disclosed they transferred all their shares of fry s electronics to a limited liability company called rdl llc and a limited partnership called the taw l.p. the latter also controls the former and since then they have controlled fry s electronics indirectly through those entities . their existence became publicly known in january 2012 because randy fry s ex wife laurie hammer had attempted to challenge a post nuptial settlement agreement under which she agreed to accept units of the taw in settlement of her claims against randy . on january 23 2012 the california court of appeal for the sixth district upheld the trial court s dismissal of her lawsuit in an unpublished opinion . citation needed because fry s stores are enormous often stocking dozens of variations of a single type of product they are popular with electronics and computer hobbyists . one of the few stores to challenge fry s in all dimensions production selection and store wide themes was incredible universe a series of tandy radio shack superstores which were established in 1992 and absorbed into fry s in 1996 . historically circuit city and compusa were major competitors in the computer space but they collapsed during the late 2000s recession leaving best buy as fry s main competitor . unlike best buy fry s sells not only fully assembled computers but all the individual components which consumers need to build their own from scratch . citation needed as of august 2014 fry s electronics operated 34 brick and mortar stores in nine u.s. states california 17 stores ; texas 8 ; arizona 2 ; georgia 2 ; illinois 1 ; indiana 1 ; nevada 1 ; oregon 1 ; and washington 1 . 7 store themes edit various fry s locations are decorated in elaborate themes . for example the burbank store which opened in 1995 carries a theme of 1950s and 1970s science fiction movies and features huge statues of popular characters such as the robot gort from the day the earth stood still and darth vader from the star wars movie series . in addition giant ants from the movie them hang from the ceiling and the bodies of 1957 chevys and buicks serve as dining tables in the cafe . a flying saucer protrudes above the entrance . citation needed arizona stores aztec temple phoenix golf theme tempe california stores citation needed nasa space center anaheim 1950s sci fi burbank ancient egypt campbell industrial revolution city of industry ancient rome fountain valley 1893 chicago world s fair the first electric city fremont polynesia manhattan beach spirit of oxnard oxnard wild west palo alto 19th century california railroads roseville california gold rush sacramento top gun military aircraft san diego mayan temple at chichen itza san jose atlantis san marcos history of silicon valley sunnyvale alice in wonderland woodland hills illinois stores warehouse downers grove indiana stores history of indianapolis motor speedway fishers nevada stores history of the las vegas strip paradise history of reno sparks reno planned oregon stores warehouse wilsonville texas stores warehouse arlington music industry austin lazy k ranch dallas oil industry houston history of irving irving history of plano plano 8 space exploration including a replica of the international space station webster . washington stores warehouse renton since fry s acquired the incredible universe chain of stores the company has reduced the elaborateness of its themes . with the opening of the store in fishers indiana fry s made a race track theme with various hanging displays including stop and go signs as well as many early life photos of what life looked like in late 1800s and early 1900s in indianapolis indiana . citation needed criticism edit in 1997 forbes reported on a series of issues about fry s customer service and unorthodox business practices . among the allegations was that the company had an internal policy identified as the double h or hoops and hurdles to delay or prevent customers from obtaining refunds . 9 in 1998 usa today reported that many customers had become frustrated with poor customer service at fry s stores . 10 fry s advertising methods have also gone under heavy fire . in 2003 actors denzel washington bruce willis and california governor arnold schwarzenegger sued fry s for 10 million each for posting their images on television sets on their print ads and flyers without permission . 11 on black friday 2007 customers at the renton washington location complained that fry s employees were offering to let people cut in front of a long line for a fee . after complaints in the media fry s management offered anyone who paid the fee their money back . 12 in 2008 fry s vice president of merchandising and operations ausuf umar siddiqui was charged by federal prosecutors in an illegal kickback scheme involving fry s vendors . the alleged scheme was designed to defraud the company in order to cover siddiqui s gambling expenses . 13 in september 2012 fry s electronics agreed to pay 2.3 million and to implement preventive measures to settle a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit brought by the u.s. equal employment opportunity commission . the settlement was in relation to allegations that an assistant store manager at the renton store harassed a 20 year old sales associate by frequently sending her sexually charged text messages and inviting her to his house to drink . after her direct supervisor reported the harassment to fry s legal department the company allegedly fired the female salesperson and fired her supervisor for standing up for her . 14 online sales operation edit fry s electronics was late in establishing an online sales presence . they began offering low cost internet access in 2000 through their original web address frys.com . 15 the company later bought e commerce site cyberian outpost in november 2001 and started online sales with a different url outpost.com 16 which confused customers who didn t associate the online name with the brick and mortar store . 17 for a time in the mid 2000s the web site identified itself as fry s electronics outpost.com using dual branding in an attempt to create a connection in visitors minds . 18 in october 2006 a grand re opening of frys.com introduced the online store with the same name as the retail outlets . 19 20 the outpost.com url now redirects to the frys.com online store . domain name acquisitions edit the domain name frys.com was owned in 1997 by david peter a.k.a. david peter burlini 21 who manufactured and sold french fry vending machines under the business name frenchy frys and who was also involved in another dispute over the domain newricochet.com with ricochet networks . 21 david burlini 22 attended santa clara university around the same time that the fry brothers were attending . 23 fry s electronics brought suit against him that year alleging trademark infringement and ultimately prevailed in a default judgment . 24 25 since then fry s electronics has aggressively tried to defend its trademark and domain names . in 2001 it successfully prosecuted a man who was posting its own print ads on the web using the domain frysad.com . 26 in 2007 fry s electronics lost a domain dispute against prophet partners inc. an online advertising company with thousands of generic and descriptive domain names . the arbitrator dismissed the complaint which requested transfer of the frys.us domain ruling that fry s electronics did not have any more right to use the fry s mark than other entities with a similar surname or commercial use of the word . 27 references edit a b 210 fry s electronics . forbes . 201 . retrieved 2011 09 13 . fry s electronics