Incredible Universe
Encyclopedia
Incredible Universe was the name of a chain of American consumer electronics
stores in the early to mid-1990s. A typical Incredible Universe was 185000 square feet (17,187.1 m²) of sales floor and warehouse, stocking around 85,000 items.
The operation was the brainchild of former Tandy
CEO
John Roach, who envisioned an empire of retail stores that combined shopping
with entertainment
. Many internal corporate philosophies of Disney
theme parks
were borrowed; in an Incredible Universe store, retail departments were 'scenes,' employees were 'castmembers,' uniforms were 'costumes,' and so forth.
area with an actual stage
where sales presentations, product demonstrations, or even occasional musical acts were performed, and various retail departments (software
, music
and video
, and accessories) were accessible from this rotunda. Moving through the rotunda area would lead one to the main storefront where larger consumer electronics and computers were sold.
A store would also generally contain from four to eight sound rooms where particular combinations of audio/video
equipment could be demonstrated, and some stores contained McDonald's
restaurant
s (the Wilsonville, Oregon
store contained a Pizza Hut
) and temporary day care
facilities where parents could leave their small children while they shopped.
Many stores also had a second floor which housed a cafeteria for the staff as well as training and demo rooms. The training rooms were used for demonstrating new product from vendors to the staff as well as public training on computers, software, and audio/video gear for purchase. Rounding out the computer department was a computer upgrade center which could add new memory, a sound card, or a modem in just a few minutes.
, and Wilsonville, Oregon
; when these proved profitable, parent company Tandy decided to expand quickly, opening an additional 15 stores. During this time, however, with the growth of other retail outlets such as Best Buy
, the market became more competitive; this, coupled with what some saw as poor locations for the additional stores and the expense of operating such large facilities, resulted in an overall lack of profitability
for the entire enterprise.
Of the 17 stores, only six were ever consistently profitable; these six stores were sold to California company Fry's Electronics
in 1996. The others were all closed in that same year. As the buildings were so large, they could not be readily adapted to other business purposes, and buyers were so scarce that Tandy sold the empty buildings for mere pennies on the dollar.
The Hollywood, Florida
store became a Home Depot.
The Miami, Florida
store now houses AAAA World Import-Export, an importer-exporter.
The Fishers
, Indiana
store became an AutoNation
automobile dealership. However, it was short-lived and the property now houses a Fry's Electronics store. The building's outside appearance still largely resembles that of an Incredible Universe store.
The Houston, Texas
store became a Houston Community College campus. The building's outside appearance still largely resembles that of an Incredible Universe store.
The Lone Tree, Colorado
store became a unit of Sears-based The Great Indoors
.
The Duluth, Georgia
store is now divided into a Dave and Busters and a PGA Tour Superstore.
The Dale City, Virginia
store located near Potomac Mills
mall was eventually purchased by the Prince William County government and converted to house multiple local and federal government offices. This was short-lived and now U.S. defense contractor General Dynamics
Land Systems division has a presence.
The Pineville, North Carolina
store located near Carolina Place Mall
and is now the world's largest Sam's Club
.
The Auburn, Washington
location now also serves as a Sam's Club
. Fry's later built a store in nearby Renton, Washington
, which is nearer to downtown Seattle than Auburn is.
The Sandy, Utah
Incredible Universe store sat vacant until 1999. Costco
purchased the building and eventually converted it into one of their warehouses, which opened July 2000. Currently, the Salt Lake City metropolitan area's nearest Fry's Electronics
store is in Las Vegas
, Nevada
.
The Westbury, New York
store (which shut its doors on 2/23/1997) became the first Long Island
Target
store.
The Hilliard, Ohio
store is now home to Garden Ridge, a home decor store.
, Arizona
; Wilsonville, Oregon
; Sacramento
and San Diego
, California
; Fishers, Indiana
, Dallas
(Garland), and Arlington, Texas
are all former Incredible Universe stores. These typically featured little in the way of remodeling or renovation prior to opening as a Fry's store; internally, they still have many of the light displays originally set up for Incredible Universe, and the Tempe, San Diego and Wilsonville stores still use the Incredible Universe-themed delivery trucks, although on Tempe and Wilsonville store trucks the words "Incredible Universe" were painted over in black. The San Diego Fry's Incredible Universe trucks have not been painted and remain intact.
Recently, the Tempe, Arizona store started a large-scale remodel and is now being done in a cowboy golf theme, removing and changing a large amount of the more than decade-old Incredible Universe signage and display items. A section of the overhead walkways was removed and all sections of the store have portions roped off for construction work.
Consumer electronics
Consumer electronics are electronic equipment intended for everyday use, most often in entertainment, communications and office productivity. Radio broadcasting in the early 20th century brought the first major consumer product, the broadcast receiver...
stores in the early to mid-1990s. A typical Incredible Universe was 185000 square feet (17,187.1 m²) of sales floor and warehouse, stocking around 85,000 items.
The operation was the brainchild of former Tandy
Tandy Corporation
Tandy Corporation was a family-owned leather goods company based in Fort Worth, Texas. Tandy was founded in 1919 as a leather supply store, and acquired RadioShack in 1963. The Tandy name was dropped in May 2000, when RadioShack Corporation was made the official name.-History:Tandy began in 1919...
CEO
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
John Roach, who envisioned an empire of retail stores that combined shopping
Shopping
Shopping is the examining of goods or services from retailers with the intent to purchase at that time. Shopping is an activity of selection and/or purchase. In some contexts it is considered a leisure activity as well as an economic one....
with entertainment
Entertainment
Entertainment consists of any activity which provides a diversion or permits people to amuse themselves in their leisure time. Entertainment is generally passive, such as watching opera or a movie. Active forms of amusement, such as sports, are more often considered to be recreation...
. Many internal corporate philosophies of Disney
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
theme parks
Amusement park
thumb|Cinderella Castle in [[Magic Kingdom]], [[Disney World]]Amusement and theme parks are terms for a group of entertainment attractions and rides and other events in a location for the enjoyment of large numbers of people...
were borrowed; in an Incredible Universe store, retail departments were 'scenes,' employees were 'castmembers,' uniforms were 'costumes,' and so forth.
Layout
The stores featured a large rotundaRotunda (architecture)
A rotunda is any building with a circular ground plan, sometimes covered by a dome. It can also refer to a round room within a building . The Pantheon in Rome is a famous rotunda. A Band Rotunda is a circular bandstand, usually with a dome...
area with an actual stage
Stage (theatre)
In theatre or performance arts, the stage is a designated space for the performance productions. The stage serves as a space for actors or performers and a focal point for the members of the audience...
where sales presentations, product demonstrations, or even occasional musical acts were performed, and various retail departments (software
Computer software
Computer software, or just software, is a collection of computer programs and related data that provide the instructions for telling a computer what to do and how to do it....
, music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
and video
Video
Video is the technology of electronically capturing, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing scenes in motion.- History :...
, and accessories) were accessible from this rotunda. Moving through the rotunda area would lead one to the main storefront where larger consumer electronics and computers were sold.
A store would also generally contain from four to eight sound rooms where particular combinations of audio/video
Audio-visual
The term Audio-Visual may refer to works with both a sound and a visual component, the production or use of such works, or to equipment used to create and present such works...
equipment could be demonstrated, and some stores contained McDonald's
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...
restaurant
Restaurant
A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
s (the Wilsonville, Oregon
Wilsonville, Oregon
Wilsonville is a city primarily in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States. A portion of the northern section of the city is in Washington County. Originally founded as Boones Landing due to the Boones Ferry which crossed the Willamette River at the location, the community became Wilsonville in...
store contained a Pizza Hut
Pizza Hut
Pizza Hut is an American restaurant chain and international franchise that offers different styles of pizza along with side dishes including pasta, buffalo wings, breadsticks, and garlic bread....
) and temporary day care
Day care
Child care or day care is care of a child during the day by a person other than the child's legal guardians, typically performed by someone outside the child's immediate family...
facilities where parents could leave their small children while they shopped.
Many stores also had a second floor which housed a cafeteria for the staff as well as training and demo rooms. The training rooms were used for demonstrating new product from vendors to the staff as well as public training on computers, software, and audio/video gear for purchase. Rounding out the computer department was a computer upgrade center which could add new memory, a sound card, or a modem in just a few minutes.
History
Initially, two stores were opened, in Arlington, TexasArlington, Texas
Arlington is a city in Tarrant County, Texas within the Dallas–Fort Worth metropolitan area. According to the 2010 census results, the city had a population of 365,438, making it the third largest municipality in the Metroplex...
, and Wilsonville, Oregon
Wilsonville, Oregon
Wilsonville is a city primarily in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States. A portion of the northern section of the city is in Washington County. Originally founded as Boones Landing due to the Boones Ferry which crossed the Willamette River at the location, the community became Wilsonville in...
; when these proved profitable, parent company Tandy decided to expand quickly, opening an additional 15 stores. During this time, however, with the growth of other retail outlets such as Best Buy
Best Buy
Best Buy Co., Inc. is an American specialty retailer of consumer electronics in the United States, accounting for 19% of the market. It also operates in Mexico, Canada & China. The company's subsidiaries include Geek Squad, CinemaNow, Magnolia Audio Video, Pacific Sales, and, in Canada operates...
, the market became more competitive; this, coupled with what some saw as poor locations for the additional stores and the expense of operating such large facilities, resulted in an overall lack of profitability
Profit (accounting)
In accounting, profit can be considered to be the difference between the purchase price and the costs of bringing to market whatever it is that is accounted as an enterprise in terms of the component costs of delivered goods and/or services and any operating or other expenses.-Definition:There are...
for the entire enterprise.
Of the 17 stores, only six were ever consistently profitable; these six stores were sold to California company Fry's Electronics
Fry's Electronics
Fry's Electronics is a big-box store and retailer of software, consumer electronics, computer hardware, with in store computer repair and custom computer building services and household appliances with a chain of superstores headquartered in Silicon Valley...
in 1996. The others were all closed in that same year. As the buildings were so large, they could not be readily adapted to other business purposes, and buyers were so scarce that Tandy sold the empty buildings for mere pennies on the dollar.
The Hollywood, Florida
Hollywood, Florida
-Demographics:As of 2000, there were 59,673 households out of which 24.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.5% were married couples living together, 11.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.2% were non-families. 34.4% of all households were made up of...
store became a Home Depot.
The Miami, Florida
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
store now houses AAAA World Import-Export, an importer-exporter.
The Fishers
Fishers, Indiana
Fishers is a town located in Fall Creek and Delaware townships, Hamilton County, Indiana, with a population of 76,794, according to the 2010 census. A suburb of Indianapolis, Fishers has grown rapidly in recent decades: about 350 people lived there in 1963, 2,000 in 1980, and only 7,200 as recently...
, Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
store became an AutoNation
AutoNation
AutoNation, the largest auto retailer in the USA, was founded in 1996 by entrepreneur H. Wayne Huizenga, also founder of Blockbuster and Waste Management. The company is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The current Chairman and CEO is Mike Jackson, former CEO of Mercedes Benz North America...
automobile dealership. However, it was short-lived and the property now houses a Fry's Electronics store. The building's outside appearance still largely resembles that of an Incredible Universe store.
The Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
store became a Houston Community College campus. The building's outside appearance still largely resembles that of an Incredible Universe store.
The Lone Tree, Colorado
Lone Tree, Colorado
Lone Tree is a Home Rule Municipality in Douglas County, Colorado, United States. The population was 4,873 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Lone Tree is located at . It is on the northern border of Douglas County, and directly adjacent to Arapahoe County...
store became a unit of Sears-based The Great Indoors
The Great Indoors
-History:The Great Indoors concept was introduced in 1997 by Sears. They believed the chain could have 150 stores within the next 10 years. However, the chain did not prove successful, and Sears started closing stores. All stores in California are closing, with two remaining in Burbank, CA and...
.
The Duluth, Georgia
Duluth, Georgia
Duluth is a city in Gwinnett County, Georgia and an increasingly more affluent and developed suburb of Atlanta. Unincorporated portions of Forsyth County also have Duluth as a mailing address, though this area is outside city limits...
store is now divided into a Dave and Busters and a PGA Tour Superstore.
The Dale City, Virginia
Dale City, Virginia
Dale City is an unincorporated community in Prince William County, Virginia, United States. Recognized by the U.S. Census Bureau as a census designated place , the community had a total population of 63,616 according to the 2006 American Community Survey....
store located near Potomac Mills
Potomac Mills
Potomac Mills is a shopping mall in Woodbridge, VA in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. It is located near Interstate 95 between Smoketown Road, Telegraph Road and the Prince William Parkway....
mall was eventually purchased by the Prince William County government and converted to house multiple local and federal government offices. This was short-lived and now U.S. defense contractor General Dynamics
General Dynamics
General Dynamics Corporation is a U.S. defense conglomerate formed by mergers and divestitures, and as of 2008 it is the fifth largest defense contractor in the world. Its headquarters are in West Falls Church , unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, in the Falls Church area.The company has...
Land Systems division has a presence.
The Pineville, North Carolina
Pineville, North Carolina
Pineville is a suburban town in the southernmost portion of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina situated in the Waxhaws district between Charlotte, North Carolina and Rock Hill, South Carolina....
store located near Carolina Place Mall
Carolina Place Mall
Carolina Place Mall is a shopping mall located in Pineville, North Carolina, a suburb of Charlotte. The mall is anchored by Sears, Belk, JCPenney, Dillard's, and Macy's.-History:...
and is now the world's largest Sam's Club
Sam's Club
Sam's Club is a chain of membership-only retail warehouse clubs owned and operated by Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., founded in 1983 and named after Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton. , the Sam's Club chain serves more than 47 million U.S. members...
.
The Auburn, Washington
Auburn, Washington
-Parks:Auburn has an extensive system of parks, open space and urban trails comprising 29 developed parks, 5 undeveloped sites under planning, 2 skate parks, 2 water roatary parks, and over of trails , and almost of open space for passive and active recreation.-Environmental Park:The Auburn...
location now also serves as a Sam's Club
Sam's Club
Sam's Club is a chain of membership-only retail warehouse clubs owned and operated by Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., founded in 1983 and named after Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton. , the Sam's Club chain serves more than 47 million U.S. members...
. Fry's later built a store in nearby Renton, Washington
Renton, Washington
Renton is an Eastside edge city in King County, Washington, United States. Situated 11 miles southeast of Seattle, Washington, Renton straddles the southeast shore of Lake Washington. Founded in the 1860s, Renton became a supply town for the Newcastle coal fields...
, which is nearer to downtown Seattle than Auburn is.
The Sandy, Utah
Sandy, Utah
Sandy is a city in Salt Lake County, Utah, United States. It is a suburb of Salt Lake City. The population was 87,461 at the 2010 census, making it the sixth-largest city in Utah....
Incredible Universe store sat vacant until 1999. Costco
Costco
Costco Wholesale Corporation is the largest membership warehouse club chain in the United States. it is the third largest retailer in the United States, where it originated, and the ninth largest in the world...
purchased the building and eventually converted it into one of their warehouses, which opened July 2000. Currently, the Salt Lake City metropolitan area's nearest Fry's Electronics
Fry's Electronics
Fry's Electronics is a big-box store and retailer of software, consumer electronics, computer hardware, with in store computer repair and custom computer building services and household appliances with a chain of superstores headquartered in Silicon Valley...
store is in Las Vegas
Las Vegas metropolitan area
The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...
, Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
.
The Westbury, New York
Westbury, New York
Westbury incorporated in 1932 as a village in Nassau County, New York in the United States. The population was 15,146 at the 2010 census.The Village of Westbury is in the Town of North Hempstead....
store (which shut its doors on 2/23/1997) became the first Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
Target
Target Corporation
Target Corporation, doing business as Target, is an American retailing company headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the second-largest discount retailer in the United States, behind Walmart. The company is ranked at number 33 on the Fortune 500 and is a component of the Standard & Poor's...
store.
The Hilliard, Ohio
Hilliard, Ohio
Hilliard is a city in Franklin County, Ohio, United States. The population was 28,435 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Hilliard is located at . It is bordered on the east by Upper Arlington, on the north by Dublin, on the south by Galloway and Columbus, and to the west lies open farmland...
store is now home to Garden Ridge, a home decor store.
Fry's stores
The Fry's stores in TempeTempe, Arizona
Tempe is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, USA, with the Census Bureau reporting a 2010 population of 161,719. The city is named after the Vale of Tempe in Greece. Tempe is located in the East Valley section of metropolitan Phoenix; it is bordered by Phoenix and Guadalupe on the west, Scottsdale...
, Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
; Wilsonville, Oregon
Wilsonville, Oregon
Wilsonville is a city primarily in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States. A portion of the northern section of the city is in Washington County. Originally founded as Boones Landing due to the Boones Ferry which crossed the Willamette River at the location, the community became Wilsonville in...
; Sacramento
Sacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
and San Diego
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
; Fishers, Indiana
Fishers, Indiana
Fishers is a town located in Fall Creek and Delaware townships, Hamilton County, Indiana, with a population of 76,794, according to the 2010 census. A suburb of Indianapolis, Fishers has grown rapidly in recent decades: about 350 people lived there in 1963, 2,000 in 1980, and only 7,200 as recently...
, Dallas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
(Garland), and Arlington, Texas
Arlington, Texas
Arlington is a city in Tarrant County, Texas within the Dallas–Fort Worth metropolitan area. According to the 2010 census results, the city had a population of 365,438, making it the third largest municipality in the Metroplex...
are all former Incredible Universe stores. These typically featured little in the way of remodeling or renovation prior to opening as a Fry's store; internally, they still have many of the light displays originally set up for Incredible Universe, and the Tempe, San Diego and Wilsonville stores still use the Incredible Universe-themed delivery trucks, although on Tempe and Wilsonville store trucks the words "Incredible Universe" were painted over in black. The San Diego Fry's Incredible Universe trucks have not been painted and remain intact.
Recently, the Tempe, Arizona store started a large-scale remodel and is now being done in a cowboy golf theme, removing and changing a large amount of the more than decade-old Incredible Universe signage and display items. A section of the overhead walkways was removed and all sections of the store have portions roped off for construction work.
External links
- Former Incredible Universe Employees Reunion website
- A case study about the store's real estate assets from retailtrafficmag.com