H.D. SMITH, LLC
CONSHOHOCKEN, PA

From retail solutions for pharmacies that need extra help with marketing to delivering innovative programs, H. D. Smith creates value for our customers, and will continue to do so. James M. Smith, Sr., of Spartanburg, South Carolina, started his career as a pharmacist. By 1947, James transitioned his company to focus on wholesale distribution, called J M Smith Corporation, which set the stage for future generations of pharmacists. While James was building the business, he and his wife, Ethel, raised two sons. James Jr. (Jim), born in 1926, and Henry Dale, born in 1928. Each chose to pursue a similar career as registered pharmacists and joined the family business. The family traveled to Springfield, Illinois to visit Ethel’s family in 1951. This trip sparked a new pharmaceutical wholesale distribution company in central Illinois. Identifying the pharmaceutical wholesaler void, James immediately wanted to bring his knowledge and expertise to Springfield. His son Henry Dale participated heavily in the planning. Unfortunately, James died of a sudden heart attack just months later, delaying the start of the new business. Two years after his father’s death, Henry Dale Smith, along with his wife, Betty, and young sons, Henry Dale Jr. and Rogers, moved to Springfield, Illinois in 1953 to pursue the late James Smith’s visionary dream. After settling in Springfield, Henry Dale and Betty later had two more sons, Chris and Andy. Henry Dale opened a 6,000-square-foot warehouse at 435 N. Fourth Street, with only three other associates. Starting with zero customers in 1954, Henry Dale began with no previously established buyer-seller relationships in the market.           To determine who his customers should be, Henry Dale drew a line on a map equidistant from his warehouse to the next closest distributor. He colored in the section as his territory and set to work. Realizing his company was battling established organizations, Henry Dale created a brand built on superb customer service and thinking outside the box. Without enough delivery trucks to keep up with his thriving business, Henry Dale developed an agreement with the Illinois State Register newspaper—delivered twice a day back then. The trucks delivered the afternoon newspaper and pharmaceutical supplies to each pharmacist on the route. Always thinking of the customer, the company went to great lengths to ensure products reached customers in time. In times of necessity, Henry Dale would put products on a Greyhound bus, and instruct the pharmacist to pick it up at the bus station a few hours later. This dedication to helping a customer in crisis set the foundation for the company to flourish. In the 1960s, H. D. Smith was steadily growing, despite the inability to supply the largest line of products that wholesalers distributed in that time—Eli Lilly. Determined to win a contract with Lilly, Henry Dale had a vast supply of shelves constructed in 1954 and left them empty. Even when other areas of the warehouse overflowed, the Lilly shelves remained bare, but not for long. When H. D. Smith began supplying the state of Illinois in the early ‘60s, Lilly took notice. When Lilly needed to distribute a new line of products, H. D. Smith was ready. Becoming a wholesaler with Lilly opened many doors for the central Illinois company, including the National Wholesale Druggist Association. In 1974, Henry Dale’s eldest son, Dale Smith, joined the company in sales, covering Champaign-Urbana and the Quad cities. In 1980, Chris Smith joined the ranks of H. D. Smith full-time as a buyer, and helped convert the company from IBM punch cards to PCs. When Henry Dale’s brother, James M. Smith Jr., passed away in 1985, Henry Dale began spending time in Spartanburg to run his brother’s company, J M Smith Corporation. This allowed Dale to step into his father’s role as president and break into the Chicago market. By the mid-1990s, Dale Smith had positioned the company very well throughout the expanding central Illinois market, but knew that soon H. D. Smith would either need to allow one of the wholesale giants to buy the company, or begin buying other like companies. In 1995, H. D. Smith acquired Texas Drug Company in Fort Worth, Texas. In 1997, H. D. Smith opened a distribution center in Wood Dale, Illinois to service Chicago and the upper Midwest. In 1998, Smith Medical Partners allowed H. D. Smith to grow in specialty distribution, and is based within the Wood Dale facility. In 2000, H. D. Smith acquired J.J. Balan Company in Brooklyn, New York. The distribution center relocated to a facility in Kearny, New Jersey, where it remains today. Focused on providing value to each patient, H. D. Smith had great success in helping pharmacies with prescription drugs and various other products. Through strategic acquisitions, the company continued to broaden its scope, now reaching the entire healthcare value chain for patients. Already a leader in wholesale distribution and the fourth largest in the United States, H. D. Smith acquired Valley Wholesale Drug in Stockton, California in 2012. Operationally, Valley is run as a wholly owned subsidiary, and its presence allows H. D. Smith to continue to reach independent pharmacies on the west coast. To commemorate 60 years in business, H. D. Smith celebrated with events throughout the year. Provide required documents such as licenses, CSOS registration and usage report The bid process began in 2009. “We talked to four national and one regional wholesaler.” said Navarra. “We realized quickly that only two could likely meet our unique delivery requirements.” Town Total’s emphasis in specialty and compounding meant an inventory of high cost products with life-sustaining implications. “For business reasons, we keep a low inventory, so we need reliable and quick product procurement.” H. D. Smith was ultimately selected based on service. A father/son partnership between John Navarra and Joseph Navarra, Town Total appreciated H. D. Smith’s accessibility and desire to truly collaborate with Town Total. “As a part of a family-owned business, we identify with H. D. Smith.” said Navarra. “Dale Smith (H. D. Smith CEO) visited during the proposal process. In most companies, not many executives will come see a single account.”