SAN JOSE — Fry’s Electronics says it has decided to cease operations permanently, blaming the “difficult decision” on far-reaching changes in retailing and the economic woes of the coronavirus, the company said Wednesday.

The consumer electronics merchant — an icon of Bay Area tech-oriented retail — posted the decision on its website and said it ceased regular operations and began the shutdown process on Wednesday.

“After nearly 36 years in business as the one-stop-shop and online resource for high-tech professionals across nine states and 31 stores, Fry’s Electronics has made the difficult decision to shut down its operations and close its business permanently,” the retailer stated on its website.

The announcement on Wednesday confirmed reports several hours earlier of the looming demise of Fry’s Electronics.

Multiple workers at Fry’s Electronics said they were told by their managers that the company had decided to cease operations.

“Store managers told employees not to come to work Wednesday,” one employee with direct knowledge of the company’s plans told this news organization.

Fry’s electronics blamed its shutdown on wrenching economic difficulties on multiple fronts, including the coronavirus.

“Changes in the retail industry and the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic” were the primary reasons that Fry’s gave for the abrupt closure.

Phone calls that this news organization placed Tuesday night to the personal phones of Fry’s Electronics top executives and principal co-owners Randy Fry and Dave Fry, as well as two other top Fry’s executives, weren’t answered.

Early on Wednesday morning, the official Facebook page of Fry’s Electronics had been deactivated — although the retailer’s Facebook page still showed up on Google web searches.

The Fry’s Electronics official Twitter page was set to private status, which means that the company’s tweets were visible only to followers who were granted permission to see the page.

San Jose-based Fry’s lists 28 store locations nationwide, including 15 in California.

In the Bay Area, Fry’s lists stores in five cities: San Jose, Sunnyvale, Fremont, Concord, and Campbell.

However, direct observation of the Campbell store Tuesday night revealed that it had closed permanently in November 2020, according to a sign posted on a store entrance.

The north San Jose store on East Brokaw Road, where the company’s corporate offices are located, had closed for the evening by 7 p.m. Tuesday.

The Fry’s store in San Jose features a Mayan theme and is designed to resemble parts of the main temple at the Chichen Itza ancient settlement on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula.

The big property that accommodates the Fry’s store and corporate headquarters in north San Jose is slated for a massive redevelopment.

Seven office buildings could sprout on the San Jose parcel, creating a huge new tech hub after the Fry’s building is bulldozed.

For well over a year, the store shelves at Fry’s stores in San Jose, Fremont, and Campbell have become bare. The brick-and-mortar retailer’s business has steadily eroded in the face of fierce competition from online retailers.

Fry’s in recent years switched to a consignment model. That meant Fry’s was only able to attract suppliers that were willing to be paid for their wholesale goods after Fry’s had sold the items at retail.

“The company will implement the shutdown through an orderly wind-down process that it believes will be in the best interests of the company, its creditors, and other stakeholders,” Fry’s stated on its website.

Fry’s also said it would work with its customers regarding orders that were recently placed or necessary repairs.

The company is in the process of reaching out to its customers with repairs and consignment vendors to help them understand what this will mean for them and the proposed next steps,” Fry’s stated on the website.

One worker told this news organization that the abrupt decision by Fry’s to halt operations is particularly painful and will jolt many of the company’s employees.

“We still have bills to pay, loans to pay, mortgages to pay,” the employee said.