Walter A. Reese, a druggist who had previously been a manager and buyer for the Grand Olive Drug Store and the Union State Drug Store in St. Louis, started the first Reese Drug Store in Granite City on Niedringhaus Ave. in 1923. Additional Reese Drug Stores later opened in Madison in 1928 and Venice in 1930, giving the business locations in all of the Tri-Cities: Granite City, Madison, and Venice. The company then expanded beyond the Tri-Cities with stores in Wood River in 1935, Jerseyville in 1936, and East Alton in 1946. A second Granite City location opened in 1954 as one of the first stores in Bellemore Village Shopping Center.