PHARMACY PLUS IN Carrollton celebrates 40 years on July 10

By Editor | July 7, 2026 |

Pharmacy Plus in Carrollton will celebrate its 40th Anniversary on July 10 with a special anniversary celebration from noon to 4 p.m. at the Carrollton location on the Carrollton Square. Other locations will also have specials during that same time. (Carmen Ensinger/River County News)

By Carmen Ensinger

Pharmacy Plus in Carrollton will be celebrating 40 years in business at their Carrollton location on July 10 and to say thank you to all its customers and the community, they are hosting an anniversary celebration between the hours of noon and 4 p.m. with special discounts, treats and other goodies.
For those that can’t make it to the Carrollton location, their other locations will also be featuring select items at 40 percent off during those same hours.
Forty years in business is certainly a milestone and worthy of a look back at the beginning and how it got started.
Pharmacy Plus is owned and operated by Byron and Brenda Berry and they opened their doors for business on June 1, 1986.
The Berry’s moved to Carrollton in 1972 when Brenda accepted a teaching position in the Carrollton School District and Byron was still in pharmacy school in St. Louis.
While still in school, Byron worked for local pharmacies, including Davidson Drugs in Carrollton, Days Drug in Roodhouse, Bakers Pharmacy in Winchester and City Drug in White Hall.
“Joe Davidson wanted to retire and sell his pharmacy and so we worked out a deal and bought his pharmacy in 1986,” Byron Berry said. “At that time, we just left the name, ‘Davidson Drugs’.”
Then, in 1995, the Berry’s bought the old variety store building just a couple doors down and decided to move the pharmacy into a bigger location. With this move, they decided to change the name as well.
“We were actually going to name it ‘Prescriptions Plus’ but there was a pharmacy in Lebanon and the owner threatened to sue us for using his name,” Brenda Berry said. “We had no idea there was another store with that name and we don’t know how he found out what we were going to name our store, but he said it was copyrighted and that was okay. So, we named it Pharmacy Plus.”
At one time, there were actually two pharmacies in Carrollton – Pharmacy Plus and Clough Pharmacy, owned by John Clough Then, in 2003, Clough sold the pharmacy to Berry and the two combined and Clough came on board at Pharmacy Plus.
“I really enjoyed the years John and I worked together here at the pharmacy before he decided to retire,” Byron Berry said.
Byron Berry said things started changing for small town pharmacies in the 80’s.
“Pharmacies were one of the first healthcare providers that were computerized, which was good, and bad,” he said. “Because that allowed the Pharmacy Benefit Managers to get more and more prominent. So, all of our claims were sent through them and so they really started controlling pharmacy reimbursement.
“But initially, they were fair and they charged some minimum fees and then as things got bigger and more consolidated and they started owning their own providers and clinics then they started to control the whole healthcare market and over the years things have just gotten harder.”
The result is that Illinois has lost a great number of independents, like himself, being squeezed out by big corporate conglomerates like CVS, Walgreens and Wal-Mart.
“That is when we went back into these towns and opened a pharmacy back up,” Byron Berry said. “When the White Hall pharmacy closed, I thought, there is no reason that the White Hall community couldn’t support a pharmacy.”
The trick was to find someone willing to work in a small-town pharmacy.
“We had talked to a young pharmacist (Jason Campbell) a couple years prior and he said he wanted to work in an independent pharmacy,” Byron Berry said. “Well, at that time I didn’t have a position for him, but I kept his phone number and when I heard about the White Hall pharmacy I called him up and asked him if he would still be interested in a position and it took him about five seconds to say yes. He was working for a chain store and he hated it. He has been with us since we opened the store.”
The Berry’s own a total of seven stores – three traditional pharmacies and four remote pharmacies. The traditional pharmacies, with registered pharmacists on site are in Carrollton, Roodhouse and White Hall. The remote locations are in Winchester, Greenfield, Barry and Girard.
What is the difference?
A remote pharmacy does not have a registered pharmacist on hand. Instead, they have a pharmacy technician. However, this pharmacy technician, is in contact with a registered pharmacist when filling prescriptions.
“We have complete inventories at our remote locations,” Byron Berry said. “The lead technician at our remote locations has to be certified.”
Brenda Berry said her husband stepped away from the pharmacy counter in 2020 and started concentrating on the administrative side of the business. Now, he is getting ready to turn pass that down the line as well.
“Right now, our daughter, Nadia, is in the process of taking over administrative duties,” she said. “Plus, our daughter-in-law, Taylor, also works for Pharmacy Plus and is learning the pharmacy business.”
Byron Berry, however, will still keep busy in the area of pharmacy related business.
“I am involved with a lot of legislative stuff, both at the State and Federal level,” he said. “I belong to the State of Illinois Pharmacist Association and on the Board of Directors.”
There have been, and continue to be, a lot of people, who help to get the job done, day in and day out.
“Sally Mansfield worked with me starting in 1988 and retired a few years ago,” Byron Berry said. “Sharon Bowman and Cindy Rosentreter were also long-time employees. Cindy is retired now and Sharon still fills in when needed.”
Current pharmacists are Jason Campbell, Adam Weder, Rita Crocker, Jan Breece, Amanda Cronin, Kristen Liston, Breighann Early, Sharon Bowman and Cindy Rosentreter. Rosentreter is now retired and Bowman still fills in when needed.
Kelli Ross is the executive secretary and is instrumental in keeping the business on track and running smoothly.
Janice Roberts is the front-end manager and has been with the store for many years.
“Janice does an excellent job and she creates some amazing displays and buys all of our gift ware,” Brenda Berry said. “And when we have a celebration, say around the holidays, she is always a big part of that because she manages the food and arranges the party aspect of it. She is helping Nadia with our 40th Anniversary Celebration.”
There are many other great technicians and clerks to list that have kept things going and provided excellent care for the patients over the years that the Berry’s want to thank as well.
While he is not retiring, even after 52 years, Byron Berry wanted to take this opportunity to thank his staff and the people he has come to know over the years.
I’ve worked in the pharmacy business for 52 years now and I have really enjoyed all the people I have had the opportunity to work with,” Byron Berry said. “That, along with some of the experiences we have had over the years. I am very proud to have had such a good staff all these years.