Retail Pioneer Nathan Morton Dies

According to a statement issued by his wife late Thursday, Morton developed pneumonia while recovering in a hospital from a heart attack he suffered last Tuesday. He died of another heart attack in the hospital, according to the statement.

Morton is credited with building the Dallas-based CompUSA chain into a multi-billion operation from its beginnings as a handful of stores doing $60 million annually in a matter of five years.

Before CompUSA, he was senior vice president of operations at Home Depot. He was also involved with CompTIA, a computer industry trade association. In a profile about Morton that appeared in CRN's Top 25 Executives in 1993, he recalled his first fortuitous foray into retail came after months of fruitless job hunting, when he convinced a reluctant Two Guys Discount Department Store manager to grant him an interview. He got the job because he came through the door with a suit, pen and plenty of perseverance.

"I have a pretty good vision and can usually see opportunities other people can't see," Morton told CRN. "Many thought I was crazy when I came [to CompUSA]. But it had all the tenets of being a business you would want to be in if you wanted to build a large national retail chain."

Industry watchers say Morton blazed a trail.

"Nathan Morton was the single greatest influence behind the popularizing of the computer superstore concept," said Keith Newman, former editor of the Computer Retail Week or CRW, a which was a CMP Media publication.

"He was an advocate, promoting not only his company but the industry to manufacturers, associations and investors. Retailers, computer manufacturers and entrepreneurs all owe him a great debt. While at the helm of CompUSA, he took the company from concept to category leader. Above that, he was a warm and caring person who was always giving and sharing of his time and insights," Newman said via e-mail.

Jeff Matthews, general partner of Ram Partners, a Greenwich, Conn.-based hedge fund, who has known Morton for a long time, concurred. "He really was a pioneer. He helped take a little, funky computer retailer and made it into CompUSA. At that time the business was all franchises, Businessland, Computerland, Nathan helped turn it into a retail business."

A spokesman for Chicago-based CompTIA said the organization's CEO and President, John Venator sent out internal mail Thursday about Morton's passing.

Services will be held in Dallas this Sunday afternoon.

This report was updated Friday morning with additional details on Morton's death and background.