Owens & Minor turns 140

RICHMOND, Va. – Owens & Minor on Jan. 18 marked 140 years in business.  

Founded by Otho O. Owens and George Gilmer Minor, II, as a pharmaceutical wholesale and retail company, the Owens & Minor Drug Company operated on Main Street in downtown Richmond, setting its sights on the untapped market share of rural and small-town pharmacists who needed supplies. Today, it is a global Fortune 500 company with 15,000 employees. 

"Today we celebrate all that Owens & Minor has accomplished over the past fourteen decades, while also taking stock in our recent achievements during the ongoing global pandemic and the evolving demands of the healthcare industry," said Edward A. Pesicka, president and CEO of Owens & Minor. "At the same time, we are always looking ahead to how we can better serve our customers amidst today’s changing landscape of the healthcare industry." 

OM first entered the medical and surgical supply business in 1966. Over the next 40 years, it grew from a regional company with revenue of $5 million to a national corporation with revenue over $1 billion, and over the same period, transitioned from a drug wholesaler to a hospital supplier and third-party logistics firm. 

In recent years, Owens & Minor has expanded its offerings and business standing through strategic acquisitions and customer growth, including its acquisition in 2017 of Byram Healthcare, a leading patient direct business that supplies medical products to at-home patients. More recently, OM entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Apria, Inc. at an equity value of $1.45 billion.