Mark Libratore, the man who started diabetes-supply giant Liberty Medical Supply, is ready to do it again.
The Stuart entrepreneur is getting back into the diabetes business, launching another mail-order company for blood sugar monitors and test strips that he hopes will one day rival his original creation.
"I have unfinished business," said Libratore, 54. "I want to be more than just a supplier. I want a level of care that's higher."
Libratore is expanding his Liberator Medical Supply, the company he launched after leaving Liberty in 1999.
The company has sold various health care supplies over the past five years, from mastectomy bras to power wheelchairs. But after Libratore's agreement not to compete with Liberty expired last year, he's moving back into the market that made him millions.
"It's all I know," Libratore said. "We knew we had something really good. We knew we had a formula and a model that worked."
Libratore, a former respiratory therapist who has owned a medical supply store in Stuart since the 1970s, co-founded Liberty in 1989. He had an idea to offer his diabetes products through the mail and bill Medicare directly so customers didn't have to. He placed an ad in a diabetes magazine and set up four phone lines to take calls.
"The ad hit, and those four phones never stopped ringing," he said.
The company quickly grew, and in 1996, Libratore's partners wanted to cash in on their investment. |
Liberator Medical Supply
- President: Mark Libratore
- Locations: 2700 S.E. Market Place, Stuart; retail store at 4260 U.S. 1; Moving into a 25,000 square-foot facility at 2979 S.E. Gran Park Way
- Employees: 31
- Annual Sales: $3 million
- History: Libratore launched the company in 2000, a mail order and retail medical supply firm that sells everything from mobility to mastecomey products. He previously founded Liberty Medical Supply in 1989 which he sold in 1996.
- Online: www.liberatormedical.com
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So they sold to PolyMedica Corp., a publicly traded company based in Woburn, Mass., for $9 million. Libratore stayed on as Liberty's president for another three years, as the company climbed to more than $100 million in annual sales.
He then started Liberator with a catalog of mastectomy products. The company entered and exited other health care markets, such as respiratory medications and mobility equipment. About six months ago, Libratore decided to go back into diabetes sales.
For the past two years, Liberator's 8,000-square-foot offices have been on Market Place in Stuart. The company is moving in November to a 25,000-square-foot building on Gran Park Way off U.S. 1 that will include a call center and shipping warehouse.
Advertising with national commercials, Liberator will sell diabetes supplies to customers covered by Medicare and bill the federal agency directly, essentially the same set-up as Liberty. The company will also sell mastectomy, ostomy and urology products.
"He built a nice little business that we bought in August 1996," said Stephen Farrell, who now leads Liberty. " We're thankful to him for his help. I wish him well in his efforts." |
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Liberty is now the nation's largest supplier of diabetes-testing products, with more than 700,000 customers and about $315 million in diabetes sales for the 2005 fiscal year.
Libratore said he's proud of Liberty's success and wants the same for Liberator, which has about $3 million in annual sales and 60,000 customers.
Libratore again wants to reach at least $100 million in annual sales with Liberator. He had planned a merger with a public shell company about three years ago, but decided instead to go with private funding sources. He said he's growing the company slower this time to maintain control.
"It's hard to think small when you've done it really large," he said. " There's a huge epidemic of obesity and diabetes going on right now. From a business standpoint, it's definitely a lucrative place to be."
An estimated 18.2 million people in the United States have diabetes, according to the American Diabetes Association. That number is projected to climb to 30.3 million by 2030.
"There's plenty of room for anybody to exist in this market right now," said Arthur Henderson, a Nashville, Tenn.-based health care services analyst for Jefferies & Co., Inc. "It's very fragmented. Certainly PolyMedica is the largest provider of diabetes supplies, but that's not saying a whole lot.
"It's a tremendous industry and the industry is growing so there is a place for someone to gain some share." |
