We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful John Childress. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with John below.

John, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

Melinda and I married in 2005. I had graduated with a business degree from UNC Chapel Hill and Melinda with her PharmD and MBA from Campbell University. I went into the banking industry and she went right into the independent pharmacy setting. In 2010, after our daughter was born, we decided to make a move back to our home town of Statesville, NC. Melinda began working at a local independent pharmacy named Banner Drug. Over the course of the next few years, the dreams and goals of owning our own pharmacy business began to set in. Both of our parents worked for themselves in family owned businesses and I think that is part of what started the dreams and desires for Melinda and I. In January 2017, Melinda and I were able to begin our journey of owning and operating our own business. We acquired Banner Drug and its 20 year history. We were able to continue the tradition of a local independent pharmacy in our home town. It was a leap at the time for us to go out on our own and be completely responsible for our own business. Not only responsible for ourselves, but responsible to our staff and responsible to the better health of our community. A few years down the road, another opportunity presented itself. The owner of another local independent pharmacy operation began to ponder retirement and desired for his business to also continue the tradition of serving the community. This opportunity not only included local pharmacy locations, but it also included a few other business opportunities. This opportunity ultimately included 4 pharmacy locations, two restaurant locations, and the acquisition of commercial real estate totaling over 19,000 sq ft with multiple tenants. The original Banner Drug dated back to 1996. This next group, known as 1st Rx Pharmacy, dated back to 1983 (with the most recent owner). So it was yet another long time business in our area. It was quite a concept for us to go from a one pharmacy location to an operation that included four separate locations spread across 3 communities. And add onto that it included taking over the operations of two local restaurants, which we had never even thought about, much less done before. And than there was also the concept of owning a significant piece of commercial property and managing multiple tenants. All of a sudden, we found ourselves with some very daunting questions and trying to decide if this was something we could eve handle. We ultimately made the leap and just at the end of 2019, we went from owning just one local pharmacy… to owning and operating 4 local pharmacy locations, owning and operating 2 restaurant locations, and owning and operating over 19,000 sq ft of commercial space. We were very proud to continue operating these traditions in our communities, but also nervous at the same time. Certainly this was moving into a larger operation. It was moving into operating businesses we had no experience with being the restaurant industry and commercial property. It meant moving from about 10 employees with one pharmacy location to over 60 employees with multiple pharmacy locations and multiple restaurants. But we leaped… And we began to set goals and try to lay out what we wanted our expanded business to look like. We began to explore which locations to renovate, which locations to consolidate, staffing changes, services, and more. And we felt we had a plan…

We started with a complete remodel of the oldest pharmacy location, which also included one of the restaurants. It was commonly known as 1st Rx Pharmacy. Long time residents would just commonly call it “the Rx” or “the pharmacy.” And that didn’t matter if you were going to pick up a prescription or a burger.

About 4 months into our newly expanded venture, new and unexpected challenge hit hard. Not just us, but everyone. COVID 19 became a thing. We were in the middle of the first renovation and found ourselves wondering what will happen. I don’t think anyone expected the impact of COVID 19 that would ensue over the next several years (and even still now).

Over the next 2 years, our original plans seemed to evaporate and we just began to change, react, and try to be proactive. We completed the remodel on the oldest store. We completed a complete renovation on a portion of the commercial property we acquired in order to more appropriately function for our pharmacy operating goals. We consolidated pharmacy locations. We had to work through closing one restaurant (the one that was remodeled) due to all of the challenges presented with COVID. We relocated a pharmacy to another building. It seems that the last 4 years have now been a blur… yes, it has now been four years since we made that giant leap.

Today, we operate 3 pharmacy locations as Banner Drug. We serve our Statesville community as well as the surrounding communities. We operate one restaurant known as The Greenbriar Grill. And we maintain and manage the commercial property and work with 7 local small businesses that occupy the spaces.

The opportunity several years ago was large… in so many ways. The challenge was definitely large. And it still is. It takes work to manage these businesses in our community. It also takes heart and alot of help.

I can say a reason for doing this work is to provide for our family. But it goes well beyond that. Melinda and I were born and raised in Statesville and we chose to return here to live our lives and to raise our daughter. This is our community and we want to be a part of taking care of it and the people here. It is important to help keep our community healthy by providing the medical services we do… from prescriptions to general healthcare needs to medical equipment to the increased vaccine need… even to just advice on medical questions and healthcare questions. Even expanding to provide good food to serve to our community has become a part of the joy our daily business brings us. And it is not something we often consider, but providing a place for more than 50 people to work in our community is a bigger deal than I ever thought it might be. The impact it has on their lives and our community is an unmeasurable amount. And then there is also the space in our property in which multiple other local businesses operate from These businesses are also small and local businesses like ours. With local community members running their own business, making a living, and impacting our community.

It has been a fun, wild, challenging, and everything in between ride since we started close to 7 years ago. And it was definitely a risk… and definitely still is one. And it has not been one to take without difficult decisions. And it has not been one that would have ever been possible without the support of our families. They have supported us from the moment this dream was thought about. Taking a risk like this would have never happened without the support of our community either. And this risk would have never been possible without the help and support of our team… our pharmacy and restaurant teams are the best there is and we wouldn’t be able to serve our community like we do without them.

John, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Melinda and I were born and raised in Statesville and both graduated from Statesville High School. I received by business degree from UNC Chapel Hill and Melinda received her Doctor of Pharmacy and Masters of Business Administration from Campbell University. To get to the point, we focus on 3 primary areas as it relates to our businesses.

The primary is our pharmacy business. We currently operate 3 independent pharmacy locations (2 in Statesville and 1 in Harmony). As a traditional pharmacy, our primary service we provide is to fill any medical prescriptions to patients in our area. As pharmacy has changed and evolved over the last 10-15 years, the services we can provide have allowed us to serve our community with additional services. IN addition to traditional prescription needs, we serve our community with the availability or a number of different types of medical equipment such as walkers, canes, knee scooters, and other general medical equipment needs. A significant part of our pharmacy is also being able to provide a wide array of vaccines to our community. A few examples are shingles vaccines, flu vaccines, and the more recent COVID vaccines. Information and advice is a large part of our service business as well. Our pharmacy staff are trained to help educate patients on not only their medications, but how they work and what options there may be. A growing issue and concern for many patients is related to their healthcare and insurance coverages. This is another significant area our staff can provide benefits to patients by helping patients understand their coverages and what they may mean for their medical needs. Not knowing how your healthcare plan works can be very stressful on a patient and ultimately cause more health problems. Our goal at Banner Drug is to provide patients with not just the medical and medicinal products they need to lead a healthier life, but to also provide them with guidance and information to worry less about their healthcare questions. It is the service that Banner Drug provides that makes us completely different from any other pharmacy.

As an example of how we work to serve our community s through how we approach providing annual flu vaccines. We certainly offer it each year in all of our pharmacy locations. But we also work with our other local businesses large and small to provide flu vaccines to their workforce. We will work with these businesses and go to their site to offer a flu vaccine clinic to their employees. The benefits are significant as it is a step to helping the business remain healthier throughout the season. It ultimately helps the business operate more efficiently as the result is less time employees spend away from work due to illness. It certainly is better for the employees as they are healthier and spend less time out of work. And rather than employers taking a chance on their employees getting a flu vaccine or not by asking them to do it on their own time, we make the opportunity easy by taking the vaccine to them. We eliminate the potential to forget to get a vaccine, eliminate the transportation need to get one, eliminate the other challenges of creating time in another day to get one. It is a service we provide that ultimately helps keep our community healthier.

And as you may see, our pharmacy and related medical services is our primary business, however, our restaurant and commercial property do impact our community in ways you might not think about.

Our restaurant, The Greenbriar Grill, is traditional American style food with hamburgers and hot dogs. But I think our highlight is our daily specials. They are made fresh daily and made in a traditional home-cooked kind of way. From items like country style steak to casseroles to meatloaf. In addition to traditional restaurant setting, we also offer various catering options for almost any kind of event. And for the catering, we definitely stick to the home cooking kind of feel. From 10 people to 100 people, we offer a wide array of home cooked style meals in a simple yet delicious and efficient way.

And our commercial property may not seem like an important part of our community. But it is. Within this commercial property resides 7 different local businesses. All of which are operated by local individuals running their business to support their families and to impact our community. From providing healthcare needs, to recreational activities for kids, to child care, to shopping and more.

Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?

I would say that this will apply to both of the traditional operating businesses we run (pharmacy and restaurant). Staffing and people are one of the most helpful things in order to succeed in our businesses.

Our pharmacy side has nearly 50 employees ranging from cashiers to pharmacists. Each job carries specific responsibilities, but each job carries the same need to be able to be a team player, care about the work being done, and being able to work with the public. With having 3 separate pharmacy locations, it is impossible for Melinda to be on location at all three. We have a wonderful team at the pharmacy that help us to not only manage the pharmacy from a back side, but also from a front side. Our staff are who provides the high level of service to our customers and patients. Our business would not be possible without our team.

The same goes for the restaurant side. We have a wonderful team of dedicated people not just working at our restaurant, but they are being the face of our restaurant. They have the talent and skill to handle managing our product supply, handle cooking wonderful food, and at the same time serving our customers with joy. The only way Melinda and I were able to entertain the idea of continuing to operate a restaurant was due to the team in place to support us and the restaurant.

So I completely think that people is one of the most significant pieces to any business puzzle and the success of the business.

Let’s move on to buying businesses – can you talk to us about your experience with business acquisitions?

Yes… twice. It was quite a process. Our first adventure was in acquiring Banner Drug in January of 2017. It was a long time goal to own our own pharmacy business, so the opportunity certainly fit with our goals. Our families have owned and work for their own family businesses, and that was something Melinda and I desired to do as well. Her decision to become a pharmacy certainly led us to the goal and opportunity to one day own our own pharmacy as a family business.

The process started with relative ease as timing worked well for both sides of the transaction. It was a time when one individual was ready to retire and we were looking to get our own opportunity. So things were fairly smooth because timing was right and everyone’s goals aligned. It just became a matter of working through the details. We all went through the process together to formally evaluate things to ultimately determine with the transaction looked like. It included determining not just financial values on things, but also other things like continued operations, staffing, licensing, and more. It was not a particularly hard process, but there were some tedious items through out the process that just had to take the proper steps and attention to get completed. This acquisition was very smooth in large part to the relationship with the seller and all of our goals seemed to be aligned.

Our second acquisition was quite different. In large part, it was drastically different due to its size. Our initial acquisition was one pharmacy operation only. This second acquisition was for 4 pharmacy locations, 2 restaurant locations, and 19,000 sq ft of commercial property on 6.5 acres of land. This was a much larger idea with multiple businesses (that we have never operated before either). Needless to say, this process was quite a bit more stressful. We went through a similar process to evaluate the businesses financially as well as the assets of the businesses. We spent a longer time handling the evaluations as well as a longer time working with the owner and staff to determine what these businesses would look like once we took ownership. Given it was a larger transaction, our need for additional financial help was also greater, which brought on a whole different set of processes to it.

Why did we opt to go through this more stressful process to grow?

A significant part of the answer was actually in the real estate as a part of this acquisition. After we acquired Banner Drug, we knew we one day wanted to own our own location rather than renting space. It was just a financial decision we felt would be best for the business as well as for our investment. The opportunity to acquire these other pharmacies came about, and it included acquiring a piece of real estate with it (and the 2 restaurants). The real estate was located just 1 mile from our existing Banner Drug location, so we felt very confident that we would be able to relocate from space we were leasing and move into the space we would be acquiring. Then, we would have met one of our goals by having our own space.

We also felt we could benefit from some efficiencies in operating multiple locations rather than just 1. We felt with the consolidation of one or two of the locations along with a consolidation of computer system and suppliers, we could operate multiple stores efficiently and gain some opportunity. It certainly provided us the opportunity to serve our community in a greater capacity.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.bannerdrug.com
• Instagram: @bannerdrug
• Facebook: @banner drug co and @the greenbriar gril

Image Credit: 
Amanda Caldwell Photography (@amandacaldwellphotography)