Bremo Pharmacy
Locally-Owned, Family Operated, Community-Focused
Catherine Cary learned the pharmacy business from her father at an early age and went on to pharmacy school and now leads Bremo Pharmacy, a long-time family business. Catherine Herbert Cary and her three siblings grew up in Bremo Pharmacy. In 1976 their father, Dan Herbert, who worked as director of pharmacy at St. Mary’s Hospital, set up a retail pharmacy next door in the first medical office building on Bremo Road.
“My mom did the books, and our living room was the first business office,” recalls Catherine. “In early times, when my dad didn’t have a lot of staff, one of us would run errands with him to the hospital or get him something to eat. As we got older, we went from dusting shelves to doing deliveries and learning how to be a cashier and then a pharmacy technician. It was a natural progression for my sister, Michelle, and me to go to pharmacy school.”
“For us, the focus has always been on the patient and helping them be as healthy as they can,” says Catherine. “I think sometimes with corporate-owned pharmacies, there’s more focus on profit and not enough focus on patient care.”
Bremo relocated to Crossroads Shopping Center on Staples Mill Road, where they now have two locations, a retail pharmacy on one end of the plaza and a long-term care pharmacy, not open to the public, with a business office and training center on the other end. Bremo offers courses to the public in medication administration, pharmacy technician training, and CPR. The retail pharmacy offers a wide range of health and wellness products and services, from medical equipment and compression hose to health screenings and vaccinations.
Catherine earned a Bachelor of Pharmacy degree in 1989 and a Doctorate of Pharmacy in 1995 from VCU. She then worked as a clinical pharmacist at Bremo’s long-term care pharmacy for nine years before her father passed away unexpectedly in 2004 after a brief illness.
“He was only 61, so he hadn’t really started his succession plan,” recalls Catherine. “It was a big shock for the family, and we had to figure out what to do. We just felt like it was important to lead the company from within rather than hire an outside person. So I changed to more of an administrative role, and we hired another pharmacist to fill my role and went from there.”
Catherine laughs when she recalls the learning curve she faced. “All the classes I took in pharmacy school were focused on clinical training and patient care. It didn’t really dawn on me that one day I might need some other skills, like marketing and management. I hadn’t taken any business classes at all, so it was a lot to learn. Fortunately, we had the support of other independent pharmacists in town who gave us advice, we had a good accountant who explained things, and we took online classes to help us learn how to run a business.”
Bremo switched to TowneBank in the fall of 2023 when they underwent a growth spurt and acquired the business of Lafayette Pharmacy, run by another independent pharmacist who was retiring and closing his store.
“We have over 50 employees now, so we’ve grown,” explains Catherine. “We’ve always been very conservative with our money, but when we doubled our prescription volume at our retail location and needed to hire more people and carry more inventory, that’s when we got the loan from TowneBank. One of our board members knew that TowneBank was a community bank that was very focused on customer service. He introduced us to private banker Ty Crone, who shared our philosophy on how to take care of people. We started with the loan and then switched everything over. We’ve enjoyed getting to know the folks at the TowneBank Libbie Mill office right up the street. It has been a really good transition for us.”
Bremo often recognizes their own employees with small trophies when they demonstrate excellent customer service, and they decided to pass that recognition on to a TowneBank employee. Bremo presented a trophy to Ruth Jones, member services representative and vault teller at Libbie Mill, to thank her for her outstanding service.
Ruth Jones with her trophyRuth says it was an unexpected surprise that made her day. “The trophy says, ‘Best Bank Teller Ever,’ and it has a little sticker on it that says, ‘This girl is on fire,’” laughs Ruth. “I’m always trying to look out for my members. My priority is providing excellent member service. That’s what I’m here to do, and I do it the best I can.”
The same goes for Bremo. Still family-owned and locally operated, Catherine says her siblings continue to be involved. “My sister, Michelle Thomas, worked as a pharmacist early on and is now active in an advisory role, along with my brother, Charles Herbert. My other sister, Wendy Vandy, serves as a project manager and is responsible for keeping up with the various accreditations for our primary pharmacy, compounding pharmacy, and pharmacy technician courses, as well as scheduling training and working in the business office.”
To help manage the stress of being CEO, Catherine enjoys running and often participates in local races like the Richmond Half Marathon and the Monument Avenue 10K. Despite the learning curve she faced, Catherine says she knows she’s doing what she’s supposed to be doing and honoring her dad’s original mission.
“Now, I love it,” says Catherine. “I think it’s just as rewarding to help lead people and provide supervision as it was when I was a pharmacist doing direct patient care. Overall, it’s very rewarding to be able to help people in the community feel better and live healthier lives.”
For more information on Bremo Pharmacy, visit BremoRX.com.