William L. McQueary and Frederick G. McQueary founded the McQueary Brothers Drug Company in November, 1924 and was incorporated
and sold its first order on Dec. 10, 1924. Fred and Les were the only two employees the first few months of the operation. Fred would make sales calls in the city of Springfield in the morning and Les would call customers on the phone. The two brothers would fill the orders and price the invoices in the early afternoon. Fred would then deliver the orders while Les stayed in the office to answer the phone, order merchandise and do the bookwork. Their hours were 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM, six days a week, with after hour emergency services always available.
            The company started in the south room of the building at 500 West Olive in downtown Springfield. The building was about 30 feet by 75 feet and the company used only the first floor. Fred and Les were both registered pharmacists and graduates of the St. Louis College of Pharmacy. Their father, William M. McQueary, purchased a drug store in Ash Grove, Missouri in 1885. After graduation from pharmacy school the two brothers each started working for a wholesale drug firm. In 1924, they were both working for the same company, The Springfield Wholesale Drug Company, when it went out of business. Shortly thereafter they started their own business. Fred and Les started the company out of necessity because they both needed a job.


1924
Company Founded

1927
Location Moved to 233 N. Market

1938
Expanded to 2nd Floor on Market St.

1949
William T. "Bill" McQueary Joins Company

1954
Fred McQueary Joins Company

1955
Property Expanded and Offices Moved to 500 W. Olive

1973
Property West to Main Street Purchased

1974
Construction on New Warehouse Began

1975
William F. "Rick" McQueary Joins Company

1982
David McQueary Joins Company

1989
All of the Olive-Market-College-Main Street Block Was Company Property

1998
William H. "Billy" McQueary Joins Company

2000
Operations Moved to 4727 E. Kearney

2004
John McQueary Joins Company

2005
MCQNET System Launched

 

McQueary Bros.
            Two or three years after McQueary Bros. opened their office-warehouse operation at 231 N. Market, it was moved just one door north to 233 N. Market. The first items the company sold were patient medicines, crude drugs, prescription chemicals, corked prescription bottles, candy and tobacco. Abbott was the first
pharmaceutical line that they carried.
            In the late 30’s more warehouse space was needed and the company took over the second floor of both buildings, which had previously been used as hotel rooms for many years.
            After serving two and a half years in the Navy during World War II, Bill McQueary, Les McQueary’s oldest son, graduated from St. Louis College of Pharmacy. He then started to work full time in the company.
            Fred McQueary, Les McQueary’s younger son, graduated from Missouri University-Columbia with a business degree in 1952. He went to the Army for two years and started to work full time in the company in 1954.

            In 1955, the building to the north of the company was put up for sale, Fred and Bill, after much discussion, persuaded Fred and Les that the building was needed for more expansion. The first floor was remodeled into office space and additional warehouse room. The company offices were moved from 231-233 N. Market to 500 W. Olive.
            In 1973 the property west of the Olive street building which extended down to Main Street was purchased. In the summer of 1974, construction commenced on a new warehouse building on the property that was purchased the previous year.

           William F. “Rick” McQueary, Bill’s son, graduated from Missouri University-Columbia in 1975 with a degree in business and computer science. By June of that year, Rick undertook the task of converting operations for the company to a computer system. On March 1, 1976, McQueary Bros. went on-line with their computer system, beginning initially with accounts receivable and invoicing.
           David B. McQueary, Fred’s son, graduated from Southwest Missouri State University in December, 1982, with a business degree and launched his career with McQueary Bros. Both Rick McQueary and David McQueary had previously worked summers in McQueary Bros.’ warehouse after their sixteenth birthdays.
            At this time, McQueary Bros.’ territory was basically Southwest Missouri and Northwestern Arkansas. Early in 1988, McQueary Bros. opened a territory in Central Missouri. Later that same year, McQueary Bros. opened the Kansas City area territory. During the 1990s , new sales territories were opened in the St. Louis area, as well as in Illinois, Iowa, Arkansas, Kansas and Oklahoma.
            In 1989, the property, buildings and parking lot south of McQueary Bros. were purchased for further expansion when needed. McQueary Bros. now owned all of the property in the block bordered on the east and west by Olive and College Streets, and on the north and south by Market and Main Streets..


            In 1998, Rick McQueary’s oldest son, William H. “Billy” McQueary, joined the company having graduated from William Jewell College with a degree in Computer Information Systems and Business Administration. Billy is the fourth generation of the McQueary family to be involved with the day-to-day operations of the company.
            On the weekend of March 10, 2000, McQueary Bros. closed their business doors at 500 West Olive for the last time and began their move to its present location at 4727 E. Kearney. By Sunday, March 12, McQueary Bros. was up and running in its new home.
           In 2004, John P. McQueary, Rick McQueary's youngest son became part of the company. He brought a Computer Engineering degree from the University of Missouri - Rolla and is also part of the fourth generation of McQuearys involved in the business.

McQueary Bros. Drug Co.4727 East KearneySpringfield, MO 65801417-869-25771-800-747-2577