Access Cardinal Health System history

In less than a decade, the then-named Cardinal Foods became a prominent regional food distributor until branching into pharmaceutical distribution in 1979.

The company made its first foray into pharmaceutical distribution in 1980, when it acquired a drug distributor in Zanesville, Ohio, 60 miles from Columbus, and became known as Cardinal Distribution.

In 1983, Cardinal Health went public and, over the next decade, expanded its fast-growing pharmaceutical distribution business with the acquisition of more than a dozen United States drug distributors.

By 1987, a year before selling its food distribution segment, Cardinal Health’s pharmaceutical distribution business had become nearly twice the size of its food distribution business.

Walter gave up on the marginally profitable grocery business in 1988, when he sold the Cardinal Foods, Inc., Midland Grocery Co., and Mr.

Over the next few years, Cardinal Health grew rapidly, and revenues exceeded $1 billion in 1991.

Purchase or perish was the theme in the market that by 1993 was dominated by seven major companies which monopolized 78 percent of the industry's estimated $40 billion sales.

In 1994, the company signed a $900 million contract to supply mass merchandiser Kmart's nearly 1,700 pharmacies.

Cardinal entered the retail drug industry late in 1995, when the parent company traded $348 million worth of its stock for full ownership of St Louis-based Medicine Shoppe International, a pharmacy franchiser with over 1,000 stores.

According to Forbes magazine's 1996 analysis of United States companies' 10-year total return, Cardinal ranked 25th.

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1998: FTC blocks Cardinal's purchase of Burgen Brunswig; Cardinal acquires R.P. Scherer.