> Every Fry's I have been to in the last decade has felt like the store was already in the process of going out of business.

Ars Technica says it's because they tried to switch to a "consignment" inventory model, but the manufacturers weren't going along: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2021/02/frys-....

I had no idea that its competitors (Best Buy and Walmart) don't actually pay the manufacturers for their merchandise unless it sells.