Lil’ Drug Store expanding its warehouse in SW Cedar Rapids

CEDAR RAPIDS — Lil’ Drug Store Products of Cedar Rapids, already the No. 1 national supplier of health and beauty care products, is expanding its headquarters and warehouse building.

The new 45,000 square feet should be ready for occupancy in November at 9300 Earhart Lane SW. The company in 2018 moved from northeast Cedar Rapids into a 25,000-square-foot office and 80,000-square-foot warehouse there.

Chris DeWolf, the company’s president and CEO, said work on the $5 million warehouse addition began in April.

The driving force behind the warehouse expansion, DeWolf said, is Lil' Drug's 2020 purchase of a competitor in the Chicago area.

“The plan is to pull that (Chicago) operation to Iowa” when the new space is ready, DeWolf added.

That will mean reconfiguration of the warehouse space, incorporating what DeWolf termed "high-density storage."

While the warehouse addition is smaller than the current warehouse, the company has devised a plan that will house the company's current stock and that from the Chicago facility in the new addition, DeWolf said.

After the existing warehouse is emptied, it will become a distribution and manufacturing facility to better supply the business’ 180,000 customers in 50,000 locations, DeWolf said.

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Future growth

The company does all that business with 200 employees, with about 100 based in Cedar Rapids and the rest “spread around North America,” DeWolf said. “We've added 20 this year and will continue to add more as the business grows.”

Lil’ Drug Store has experienced double-digit growth over the past 23 years, which DeWolf expects to continue.

If needed, the company will expand its Cedar Rapids' physical footprint again.

“There's plenty of room at this site.” he said. “We could double the size.”

Though the current warehouse and office are now 5 years old, the facility looks like new. It has a fitness center, a full kitchen and other amenities for employees.

When the company moved to the site in 2018, there wasn’t much development so the company made an effort to provide amenities, DeWolf said.

Now the city's southwest quadrant — near Interstate 380 and The Eastern Iowa Airport — has become a mecca for huge warehouses and offices. Those developments, in turn, have spawned businesses like convenience stores, hotels and fast food.

The Lil’ Drug Store’s current 80,000-square-foot warehouse has numerous huge metal racks holding an untold number of boxed products, stacked from the floor to almost the very high ceiling. It's a mind-boggling sight, and one must be alert while in the warehouse as forklifts zip about moving stacks of boxes.

50th anniversary

Next year, Lil' Drug will mark a milestone anniversary — its 50th.

The company was founded in Cedar Rapids in 1974 by Dennis and Donna Oldorf, DeWolf's in-laws. DeWolf, 52, and his wife, Suzy, bought the business from her parents in 2005.

Lil' Drug began by providing health and beauty products to convenience stores, but over the years has broadened its holdings, products and customers.

The company supplies name-brand and private-label health and beauty products along with automotive needs, sunglasses and cellular accessories. It has retail solutions companies and ForeFold Ventures, a private investments and philanthropy limited liability company.

Lil’ Drug Store also built a consulting and analytics business used by thousands of convenience stores to determine the optimal mix of product and pricing for profitability.

The DeWolfs believe in giving back to the community, with the company donating about $15 million to community projects.

Also, the DeWolf family donated $2 million to the Mercy Medical Center Foundation to create The Chris and Suzy DeWolf Family Innovation Center for Aging & Dementia. The center, which recently opened at 9000 C Ave. NE, is part of HallMar Village, a senior living community being developed by Mercy in partnership with Presbyterian Homes & Services.

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