After this time the rapid commoditization of the PC led to the company's downfall, with most of the retail locations closing by 1990.

In 1974 he launched a company, IMS Associates, Inc., to build what was claimed to be the first truly integrated personal computers, sold as kits to hobbyists and the rapidly growing numbers of retailers (through small ads in Popular Electronics).

In 1976 (at the same time as the Byte Shop was selling its first few Apple II computers) he asked his Sales Director, Ed Faber (an ex‑IBM Manager), to start a new franchise operation, soon to become ComputerLand.

[3][5][6] In 1993, Merisel, a competitor company, announced it would purchase the ComputerLand name and all franchise holdings and its Datago aggregation division for $110 million.

[10][11] In 1997 Synnex Information Technologies, a national distributor of microcomputers and communication, networking, peripheral and storage products, purchased substantially all the assets of Merisel FAB Inc., including the ComputerLand franchise.

The acquisition of Vanstar reportedly added a large amount of debt, and it has been said that Inacom overpaid for a company of that size.