A newly applied 100% tariff on Japanese laptops had just caused a sudden sale of two NEC branded laptops in April 1987. Rick Feaster, an owner of the well-regarded Computer Supply Store, had been anticipating the news of tariffs to move through the business community at 1987-era speeds since the Presidential announcement. Like his father and wife, Rick’s finger was on the pulse of computer retail, giving him a pilot’s seat in shaping the city’s industry.
Origins
Feaster Forms was launched in 1981 to serve a new basic need in the city. The growing computer industry was successfully injecting printers into businesses. Their insatiable appetite for paper and ribbons (see David Safris’ story) inspired Harold (Harry) Feaster and Feaster Forms was born.
It would grow over the following two decades to become the regional leader in supplying paper and other consumables. The company added laptops and desktops, followed up with accessories and more. It appropriately renamed itself “Computer Supply Store” and added a consulting practice over time to assist customers beyond the store’s doors in installing local and wide area networks, servers and storage through one-time and managed networking services.
The Founder
Harry Feaster, a retired U.S. Marine, was born in Livermore, Iowa and a veteran of the Korean war. His laid-back style, likely at odds with his Marine background, might just have been one of the elements in his recipe for success. Long before startups introduced Friday drinks and pool tables in Silicon Valley, Harry’s employees from that era talk about the friendly and laid-back atmosphere of their technology company, complete with games, Friday afternoon beverages, and relaxed dress code.
I hope you checkout the full story by fellow Iowa Collaborative Writer
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His was a business of methodical growth. Quoted in the 1990 article above in the Des Moines Register, Harry spoke of the business growing slowly at first and accelerating with each new hire. The paper business transformed to computers in just five short years. In fact, the tariff incident is within six years of the company’s formation.
Expanding the family business
Harry had also guided his son, Rick, toward ownership and leadership. By 1990, Rick was President and majority shareholder with 48% equity in the growing store. Though mail order computers were popular through Gateway Computer, Computer Shopper mega catalog, and other industry rags, The Computer Supply Store established and maintained a strong physical presence in downtown Des Moines. The store continued to expand over the next five years to two buildings.
The original building is now home to Community Choice Credit Union and the second now houses the Americana Restaurant on Locust Street in Des Moines.
Rick was also joined by Vickey in the business. As Harry and Rick managed front of the house, Vickey applied her focus to business expansion across corporate enterprise customers, leading to growth which attracted an acquirer in the late 1990s.
Location
Readers familiar with American’s location in downtown Des Moines know the beauty of Pappajohn sculpture park facing the building. During Computer Supply Store’s launch and growth years, however, the street and its businesses were in a downtown eyesore. Several dilapidated buildings covered the park of today despite a marquee list of tenants in buildings around it.
A prescient and dedicated set of business owners imagined a new future for downtown Des Moines and by 1995, they’d set plans in motion to replace a majority of the properties. Buildings valued at $12MM on tax rolls would be razed to architect a new future. Meredith Corp. bookended the changes on the western end and the Des Moines Public library on the east.
Only a handful of names and businesses from the late 90s remain on Locust today, even as the street continues its transformation. However, The Computer Supply Store and its employees wouldn’t face the new Western Gateway Park for long. The company’s successes were responsible for increasing revenues and its customers, global corporations in the area increasingly needed their vendors who could support operations outside the Des Moines metro area. A new approach and strategy were at hand.
Acquisition
David Pomeroy had opened a ComputerLand franchise in Cincinnati, OH the same year Harry Feaster created Feaster Forms in Des Moines. He grew that business throughout the 80s in a parallel fashion serving customers of all sizes. As The Computer Supply Store boasted global companies such as Pioneer HiBred and Principal in the metro, Dave’s customers included marquee names such as Procter and Gamble. By 1992, however, Dave had outgrown the franchise model and sought independence.
Although today’s startups seek growth capital through venture capital or private equity, Dave’s independent was achieved through the public markets. He launched an independent company, Pomeroy Computer Resources, Inc. (PCR) in 1992, simultaneously becoming a public company through the sale of 1.1M shares at approximately $8/share. The $8.8M raised thus primed the company for rapid expansion.
Revenue and profits exploded as PCR focused its entrepreneurial energy, signing up as IBM’s first distributor in 1993. It used the cash raised in the IPO to expand inorganically, acquiring impactful companies and expanding its footprint from KY to FL. With revenues reaching nearly $200M in 1994, the company was established as a serial acquirer already in late 1994 with profits quadrupling since the IPO.
As it expanded distribution, PCR also realized the hidden value of services in the retail industry and found one such company in Des Moines, IA. By March 1996, it had reached definitive agreements and acquired The Computer Supply Store, securing not only the assets but also multi-year employment agreements with the founding team. PCR, however, wasn’t done and added six additional companies in the subsequent 18 months through its now well-honed strategy of acquiring, expanding, integrating and servicing throughout the region.
Perfect Timing?
Rapid consolidation and expansion continued throughout the computer industry with industry heavyweights Dell, Compaq, HP, Gateway, IBM and numerous others competing with a dizzying array of names from S. Korea and China. Consumers gravitated quickly to cheaper alternatives just as businesses sought greater standardization and multi-year support directly from the manufacturers.
The industry saw heavyweight innovators such as Compaq acquired by Hewlett Packard and the name erased in the 2002 acquisition. Competition from Dell and strategic mistakes are credited with the demise of another heavyweight, Gateway Computer, of the infamous ‘cow’ branded boxes.
The acquisition likely came at a perfect time for the Computer Supply Store, allowing the founders to achieve a hallmark of entrepreneurship - financial independence through unlocking their equity in the business. PCR continued its operations in Des Moines, expanding and servicing the existing marquee customers even as it expanded its sales and service footprint in the region.
Leaving a legacy
Harry, the retired US Marine from Livermore, Iowa, passed away in February 2005 from complications of cancer at 75.
Rick, the consummate entrepreneur continued investing in the region. After The Computer Supply Store, he created an indoor soccer complex in Grimes, as well as ICE Truck and Auto works in Clive. I suspect he would’ve continued building, expanding, hiring, and investing in the region had he not unexpectedly and suddenly pass away in early morning hours of a February 2008 morning. Having known him through my brief work for the Computer Supply Store in the early 1990s and Vickey through her time at the store and subsequently as she led enterprise accounts for Microsoft, and their passion for life, Rick lived a long life in his short 48 years here. His legacy continues through the numerous people his company nurtured and whose businesses in-turn continue growing in the area today.
I haven’t cited many sources since so much of this is first-hand knowledge of being a contract service provider to Rick and Vickey at their Computer Supply Store. The store also employed my wife for a period just prior to the Pomeroy acquisition. I am grateful to the Des Moines Public Library archives for access to the Des Moines Register archives that helped fill the gaps and provide a few photographic time capsules of the time. And I am tickled at being able to quote the work of my fellow Iowa Writer’s Collaborative author,
.I am a proud member of the Iowa Startup Collective, a group of writers exploring entrepreneurship across Iowa. Click the link above to checkout my peers’ work
Such important business and community history!
I remember that the Computer Supply Store had a 5 MB hard drive disc on display near the front door. It was about 4 feet in diameter, 1 inch thick, and I think way more than 100 pounds. I did a lot of business with them back in the day. Thanks for the story.