Faced with increasing competition from chain stores, a group of independent drug store owners from eastern and central North Carolina gathered to organize a new wholesale enterprise. On May 1, 1952, they conceived of a customer-owned service corporation from which they could obtain merchandise at a reduced wholesale cost. In doing so, they could pass the resulting savings on to their customers and stay competitive in the market. Each founding member agreed to purchase shares of stock to finance the incorporation of The North Carolina Mutual Wholesale Drug Company and to lease 10,000 square feet of warehouse space at the corner of Angier Avenue and Elm Street in Durham, North Carolina.