[1] The company was founded by Wilfred Schwartz in 1970, and opened the first deep discount consumer electronics "superstore" in the United States.

Federated Group was started by Wilfred Schwartz in 1970 when he bought a 25,000-square-foot warehouse in Los Angeles from an electronics company and turned part of it into a retail store.

The timing of the expansion into Texas hurt Federated Group since the state was experiencing an economic slowdown from the oil bust.

[6] In Federated Group's home territory of Los Angeles, the competition was increasing due to the entrance of Circuit City into the market in 1985.

[11] In November 1989, Atari agreed to sell 26 Federated Group stores in Los Angeles and San Diego to Silo after announcing a loss of nearly US$85 million earlier that year.