Today's Special: Fry'd Egg

Baldwin Louie — Thu, 16 Aug 2001 18:00:00 -0400

In 1998 Egghead closed its retail stores to do business solely on the Web. File that under "seemed like a good idea at the time." Now Egghead.com has declared bankruptcy and will sell some of itself to Fry's, an electronics chain that doesn't sell gear online at all. Fry's never went public, either. Have its executives considered a career in fortune telling?

Egghead has been around long enough that geek reporters gave it a respectful funeral. The San Jose Mercury News> lamented "a sad ending for Egghead, one of the early pioneers of online retailing." The Seattle Post-Intelligencer gave a good history of Egghead (its first store opened in Bellevue, Wash., in 1983, and the dot-com version was founded by a merger with OnSale.com in 1999). The Associated Press wasn't as misty-eyed, offering observations such as, "Like many failed Internet companies, Egghead's potential once enchanted Wall Street." That was $100 per share worth of enchantment, now down to around 30 cents.

Fry's is no youngster, either. It has been operating for 16 years but "has been slow to move onto the Internet," said the P-I. It "sat on the sidelines" during the online retail boom, said the Merc, and News.com added that Fry's didn't even have a Web site until 2000. It's been picking up speed lately, though. The Merc and News.com reported that Fry's had been in talks with Egghead rival Cyberian Outpost until Friday. But if you're saying "Fry who?" it's not just because Fry's lacks a major online presence - its stores are only in California, Texas, Oregon and Arizona.

If you're craving a side order of financial details, you may not like the portion. No one has said how much Fry's will acquire or how much it's worth. All we know is that Fry's has promised to keep Egghead.com going under its original name, and that Egghead will dismiss two-thirds of its employees. With any luck, the phrase "you have to break a few eggs to make an omelet" will not be part of anyone's layoff speech.

Egghead Cracks, Files for Bankruptcy
TheStandard.com

Fry's will snap up failing online retailer
SiliconValley.com

Egghead.com to File for Bankruptcy
Yahoo

Fry's to get part of bankrupt Egghead.com
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Egghead to file for bankruptcy
CNET

Scrambling For Chapter 11, Egghead Hatches Sale To Fry's
Newsbytes.com

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Today's Special: Fry'd Egg