OMG you are describing my most recent visit to the Palo Alto Fry's. I needed some kind of USB cable, I don't remember exactly what it was. Nothing unusual, maybe an A to C, or an A to B Minor, or whatever.

I asked when I walked in and they said "yes, look in aisle Foo". No luck, so I asked there. "Oh, you should check aisle Bar".

Nothing there either, but the person in that aisle helpfully directed me to aisle Fizz. No luck there, but the person said "you might try aisle Buzz."

And there was yet one more aisle after that.

Yes, they had five different aisles with various selections of USB cables, many of them overlapping but a few different ones in each location.

In the end, I had no luck finding what I needed - and I'd really hoped to get it on the spot to use for a project that evening.

So I walked out a bit disappointed and spent two minutes on Amazon, ordered the exact cable I needed, and had it the next day.

But the exercise of walking around the store was worth it!