Background

Garry Borlinghaus began in the computer industry in 1981, first in the mainframe environment as a Field Engineer for Storage Technology Corporation (STC). With a background in customer service and retail management he was hired and trained by STC on the mainframe peripheral equipment that the company manufactured in their Colorado and Florida facilities. Possessing both the customer relationship skills and the technical knowledge he received through training and practical application he enjoyed an 8 year opportunity with Storage Technology.

By 1989 the Personal Computer had found its way into the same large business environments that were once dominated by mainframes. Realizing that the "writing was on the wall" as customers began downsizing and even replacing their mainframe operations with PCs and networking, he left Storage Technology and joined his brother in the personal computer service business. ComputerHaus supported many of the same clients that they serviced while with STC and as the PC became further entrenched in the business environment, they soon began taking care of the Small-to-Medium Business (SMB) clients as well.

In 1992, as the PC was becoming a common fixture in many homes, they decided to apply their experiences to the retail sector. After establishing a relationship with a fast growing PC manufacturer in Houston, TX, their first PC Innovation store was opened in San Antonio. Because they offered great value and continued excellent service the business grew to include another retail store located in Corpus Christi as well as a wholesale operation co-owned with Tom Allen.

By 1995, however, the landscape had begun to change dramatically from the smaller, independently owned and operated computer businesses, to one filled with "Big Box" stores such as Circuit City, Computer City and CompUSA. It was then they decided to gracefully exit the retail arena and refocus on the service sector once again. After closing both of their retail stores Garry joined Tom Allen at ABTech Wholesale until he was presented an opportunity to join a large wholesale distributor in San Antonio. There he was Director of Technical Operations and was responsible for managing all aspects of the company related to technology, both to it's clients as well as in-house. He remained at PC Wholesale for about 8 years when downsizing at the company presented him with the opportunity to go back into the PC service business. In 22 years he had gone full circle and was back into focusing on service and customer support... that was 21 years ago.