This rich history started in 1877 when John Patterson and his brother Myron Fayette (M.F.) Patterson purchased a Milwaukee drugstore. The young, enterprising brothers soon added dental and surgical supplies to their regular stock of medicines, extracts, toiletries, brushes, perfumes and soaps.

In his horse and buggy travels, M.F. Patterson became impressed with the business potential in the rapidly growing Northwest territories. In agreement with his brother, M.F. acquired the dental interests of their drugstore in 1891, and then moved the Company to St. Paul, Minn. In 1938, John F. Patterson was elected president of the M.F. Patterson Dental Supply Company. By 1959, Patterson operated 40 branch locations. Five years later, W.O. Patterson was named chairman and chief executive officer.

Peter L. Frechette joined Patterson in 1982. As chief executive officer, he led the Company in a series of purchases to broaden its operation base. The 1987 acquisition of D.L. Saslow Co., the third largest U.S. dental distributor at the time, strengthened the Company’s national position. Starting in 1989, acquisitions included a series of smaller dental distributors, as well as companies with products or technology that align with the objective to serve as the one-source supplier for customers.

In 2000, the Company reached $1 billion in sales. Within the next three years, business operations expanded into three reportable segments: dental, veterinary and rehabilitation supply. James W. Wiltz was named chief executive officer in 2005.

Presently, Patterson is still based in St. Paul and continues expanding its market presence of all three businesses through acquisitions and internal startups, as well as bolstering the value-added capabilities of each.