It was started in 1985 by Alan Meltzer, owner of the Titus Oaks Records music chain in Long Island.
Meltzer moved to Connecticut and launched the company, which was the first of its kind to distribute only compact discs, out of his house in Ridgefield.
By 1992, the company had knocked down the northeast wall and doubled the warehouse to 180,000 square feet (17,000 m2).
By this time, it was also distributing cassettes and had taken over some exclusive distribution lines owned by Schwartz Bros. CD One Stop also opened a West Coast office at this time outside of Sacramento, California to compete with Valley Distributors.
Steven Lerner, Marketing Director at CD One Stop, became the president of Wind Up.