Wow. Service Merchandise in Lafayette, LA. . .bought my first high-falutin' cassette deck there back in the day (Dolby B AND dbx!) Amazing how these places have marched in and out.

The only Fry's I know is the grocery store chain. There are Fry's electronics stores in the Phoenix area, but I'm so underwhelmed by their advertising and apparent low-grade merchandise, so I've not ventured to an actual store. The Fry's grocery stores are pretty nice.

I used to work on the local print ad team at a production house that handled all the Chicago-area Montgomery Ward regular and EA newspaper ads. They were kicking it when they first roared onto the scene; first time I saw a big chain retailer trying to discount electronics.

For a while I lived near Lafayette, LA where for a time there was a Circuit City and a Best Buy directly across the street. Biggest difference I found, aside from decor, was that Circuit City employees were generally not teenagers and could actually give you sound technical advice. (And at one time, they had a…