Old Missoula

[Started by Sid J. Coffee / originally Missoula Drug Co.]

Davis Brothers Drug Operations Now Include Area From Border to Border

When Davis Brothers, Inc. entered the wholesale drug business in Missoula on Jan. 1, 1956, the firm’s operation was expanded to reach from Mexico to Canada in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States.

Headquarters of the drug firm is Denver, where it maintains one of four large warehouses, the others at Albuquerque, N. M.; El Paso, Tex., and Missoula.

Many Stores Served

The firm’s Missoula Division with 45 persons on the payroll, makes shipments of drugs, sundries, toys, school supplies and insecticides to more than 300 drug stores in western Montana, northern Idaho and eastern Washington.

The staff includes nine salesmen who cover the three-state area. Three work out of Missoula, two out of Spokane, and one each out of Coeur d’Alene and Lewiston, Idaho, and Kalispell and Bozeman.

In charge of the Missoula Division which has its plant at 940 Strand Ave., is Ronald E. Blake, vice president and general manager, Kenneth Spencer is sales manager; Wayne Guthrie, credit manager; Jack Natale, sundry buyer, and Catherine Childers, pharmaceutical buyer.

Founded by Coffee

The founder of the Missoula Drug Co. Wholesale Division taken over by Davis Brothers in 1956 was Sid J. Coffee, one of Missoula’s early merchants. Coffee came to Missoula from Kentucky because his doctor told him he wouldn’t live long unless he had a change of climate.

The answer turned out to be Missoula – he lived here for 60 years, dying in 1950 at 86. Coffee went into the retail drug business in 1897 and started the wholesale business in 1918.

He was a progressive merchandiser who always seemed to have items on hand that others didn’t. Druggists made a habit of going to him for items they needed on short notice and he gradually drifted into a wholesale business, making it a definite part of his establishment in 1918.

In Retail Store First

The wholesale business started in the familiar Missoula Drug Co. retail store at the corner of Higgins avenue and West Front street, then, as it expanded, was moved to the 200 block on East Front street where it remained until the new building was completed in February 1955.

Oakley E. Coffee took over from his father, and with a strong devotion to the business and keen knowledge of its operation caused it to grow and prosper.

The Davis Brothers plant represents one of the largest wholesale drug businesses in the Northwest, handling some 24,000 items purchased from about 2,000 manufacturers.

Vast Warehouse

The vast warehouse space, 240×120 feet, is filled with approximately a million individual items, and the office section is 120×30 feet.

The building is protected from fire by an elaborate sprinkler system which covers all parts of the building. The 10-inch water main feeds a system of pipes connected to 400 sprinkler heads, each of which starts automatically when exposed to excessive heat.

A large cooler is provided for drugs which must be kept under refrigeration. The refrigerator is kept at a constant temperature just above freezing.

Well Protected

The warehouse proper is well protected. All outside doors are bolted and locked from the inside, and the doors leading into the office portion of the building have electric locks connected to a master lock. This cannot be locked unless all the other doors are secured.

Davis Brothers handles a wide variety of products but about 80 per cent of its business is done on one sixth of its stock. The other five sixths of the stock consist of items which don’t move rapidly but which are handled so they will be available when needed.

The warehouse is stacked with long rows of cartons, high and low, on seemingly endless shelves. The multitude of items covers everything you’ll find in the modern drug store.