MASON DISTRIBUTORS' FOURTH DISTRIBUTION CENTER OPENS MIDWEST MARKET
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
MASON DISTRIBUTORS' FOURTH DISTRIBUTION CENTER OPENS MIDWEST MARKET to next-day service, the generic pharmaceutical and OTC/vitamin distributor maintains. A 20,000-square-foot distribution center was opened by Mason on April 19 in Fort Wayne, Ind. to allow Mason to serve approximately 3,000 customers in the region "with improved, faster service," the company said. The center permits next-day service to all of Indiana as well as areas of Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Illinois and Wisconsin. Mason has existing centers at its headquarters in Hialeah, Fla., Irvine, Calif., and Hasbrouck Heights, N.J. Mason intends to open another three centers before the end of 1993 in Atlanta, Seattle, and Dallas. The company's objective is to create a network with next-day service for the continental U.S. The company reported annual sales between $ 35 and $ 40 mil. in fiscal 1992, and forecasts growth to approximately $ 50 mil. in fiscal 1993. Mason currently employs approximately 200, with 125 at the Hialeah base. Mason promotes its products through an in- house telemarketing team and through a field sales force working from the company's monthly catalog. The May catalog contains a line of 74 OTC products sold under the Mason Remedies brand, 214 dietary supplements in the Mason Natural brand and 34 generic vitamins it distributes nationally. The major vitamin suppliers to Mason include GNC, Nutro, and Contract Pharmacal. The most recent catalog notes that Mason is selling unbranded OTC loperamide manufactured by Ohm Labs at $ 1.99 for 12 2 mg. caplets. The Ohm ANDA for the antidiarrheal was approved Dec. 10, 1992. Mason also distributes generic prescription drugs supplied by such manufacturers as Mylan, Lemmon, Sidmak, PBI and Par. The 40,000 square-foot Hialeah plant is licensed by FDA to repackage OTCs and supplements, according to Mason. Although the distributor repackages almost its entire supplement line, the majority of its OTC products are packaged by the manufacturer. Independent pharmacies, small drug store chains, state contracts to hospitals and institutions comprise the bulk of Mason's business of about 12,000 customers. No one customer accounts for more than 1% of sales, the distributor said. Mason also exports to the Caribbean and Central and South America. The privately-held company was begun in 1967 by its current president and sole-shareholder, Carlos Rodriguez. Mason claims to rank among the largest generic drug distributors in the country.