A little over a year ago we posed the question, how long can Fry's Electronics stay in business? The answer, as it turns out, is a little over a year.

The retail chain announced its closure on its website, saying it had "made the difficult decision" to end its 36-year history "as a result of changes in the retail industry and the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic."

In a sense, it is the end of an era, as Fry's Electronics (aka Fry's) was one of the last remaining well-known consumer electronics and PC hardware retail chain stores. Does anyone remember that there was an actual CompUSA store? If there's anything left in the bottle, I'll pour some for Software Etc.

The list goes on and gets complicated when you consider that brand names change hands and then try to start over or get absorbed by other brands. But it is a different landscape, and Fry's is the Internet's latest retail victim, with Best Buy, Wal-Mart, and to some extent Microcenter remaining the major offline sellers of electronics. Outside of local retailers, that is.

Fry's operated 31 stores in nine states, some with wildly different themes. For example, a store in Burbank, California, had an alien invasion theme, and the storefront was decorated as if a UFO had crashed into the building. Other themes were set in various locations, including the Wild West, Ancient Egypt, and the Gold Rush.

Now closed for business, Fry's has begun the process of downsizing. Fry's will also be "reaching out to customers who are repairing or selling on consignment to help them understand what this means and the proposed next steps." He said that anyone who has a product that is being repaired at Fry's should contact customer service to arrange for a return.

So, again, Fry's. I always appreciate the great Black Friday deli sandwich deal a few days ago.