This direct marketer of computers, originally named Computer Discount Warehouse, was established in Chicago in 1983 by Michael Krasny after he found it surprisingly easy to sell his own computer. Krasny soon started to buy and sell wholesale and publish a mail-order catalog; he opened a retail showroom in Chicago in 1989. The company became CDW in 1993, when it started to sell stock to the public. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, CDW, based in suburban Vernon Hills, was exceeding $4.2 billion in annual sales and employing over 2,000 Chicago-area residents.

This entry is part of the Encyclopedia's Dictionary of Leading Chicago Businesses (1820-2000) that was prepared by Mark R. Wilson, with additional contributions from Stephen R. Porter and Janice L. Reiff.