The cafe takes up a surprisingly large block in the middle of the store -- I wonder how popular this was back in the day. Off to the left, the much-lower drop ceiling delineated the media department, though by this point, it seems like Fry's approach to arranging product on the shelves was "anything goes".
I never ate at one of the Fry's cafes. I don't remember them being busy even during the years when the stores were busy, but maybe I just wasn't there at the right times. I usually went there in the evenings and so maybe that wasn't the right time to judge the busyness of them. I wouldn't be surprised if the majority of the customers were other Fry's employees, it seems like it's not unusual for the majority of a store's cafe's customers to actually be employees.
ReplyDeleteAlthough these Roman design Fry's have a poor reputation for their cookie cutter design compared to more unique Fry's stores, I will say that the flooring here in this photo is very nice. It certainly beats tile scar, doesn't it? Lol!
As an aside, Je reported to me that two of the three Houston Fry's stores have re-opened for a fixtures sale. They don't have any merchandise for sale, just fixtures, but a lot of the fixtures have Fry's logos on them and the implication was that it was a good thing for a retail collector to check out. I'm not sure if the Renton Fry's is also open/ It's interesting that one of the Houston Fry's isn't having a fixture sale, but maybe all the fixtures there were trucked to one of the other locations. Running two fixture liquidation sales is probably cheaper than running three.
Yeah, wouldn't surprise me if employees were the only ones eating here. No idea why anyone else would!
DeleteYes, I love the flooring! Certainly some of the best in a big box store anywhere.
I did finally find some information about the liquidation sale here, but you have to call someone to set up an appointment to view the items for sale. Pretty sure they wouldn't want me coming by just to take pictures and leave without buying anything! Oh well...