History

From humble beginnings, William (“Bill”) S. Propst, Sr. turned his natural inclinations for hard work and honest dealings into a diverse portfolio of real estate, operating businesses, and investments. Driven to succeed and endowed with a keen business sense, Propst, as a young man, embarked on his journey of entrepreneurship, first in the steel business. He then went to pharmacy school at Howard College (today Samford University) and upon graduation opened a pharmacy in Huntsville, Alabama. After opening several pharmacies in and around Huntsville in the 1960s, Propst realized competition from big-box retailers was becoming a significant problem. With an uncanny eye for seeing opportunity, he took the unorthodox step of calling his nemesis, Kmart, and offering to partner with the retail giant. In 1968, after convincing Kmart to entertain his building a pharmacy inside a traditional Kmart store, he went on to open and operate successfully several such stores. Seeing the customer response to this first ever pharmacy inside a big-box store, Kmart then courted Propst to move his family to Michigan and run Kmart Pharmacy. He did, and he ultimately opened 1,850 Kmart pharmacies in existing Kmart stores around the country. In time, Kmart entered the drug manufacturing business with Qualitest, a generic drug company, which Propst ran. After several successful years in the space, Kmart decided to divest itself from the generic drug manufacturing business. Propst convinced Kmart to sell him Qualitest and he moved the operations to Huntsville in 1986 and the same year his son, William S. Propst, Jr., joined the company. Over the next 21 years, Qualitest grew to become one of the largest generic drug manufacturers in the country. In 2007, Propst sold Qualitest, and with the leadership of John Hughey, they launched Propst Properties shortly thereafter. Today, the Propst Companies, run by William S. Propst, Jr.,  has become a diversified investment company with interests in income-producing real estate and a variety of operating companies.