Duane Reade Chain Sold to Walgreens
Did you know Duane Reade was founded by three brothers from Flatbush? Abraham, Eli, and Jack Cohen started the company, named after two streets in lower Manhattan, in 1960. The drug store chain has grown to 250 plus stores, with 26 in Brooklyn. The Brooklyn Eagle reports that the Deerfield, Il.-based Walgreens will buy the…
Did you know Duane Reade was founded by three brothers from Flatbush? Abraham, Eli, and Jack Cohen started the company, named after two streets in lower Manhattan, in 1960. The drug store chain has grown to 250 plus stores, with 26 in Brooklyn. The Brooklyn Eagle reports that the Deerfield, Il.-based Walgreens will buy the chain for $623 million, plus assume $457 million in Duane Reade debt, bringing the sale to a value of $1.08 billion. Walgreen’s says there are no plans to change the name…yet. How do you think this will affect you?
Duane Reade Just Sold, with Solid Presence in Bklyn [Brooklyn Eagle]
Photo from Bed Stuy blog
I go to the original Duane Reade at the intersection of Duane and Broadway. The clerks there have always been great! In response to Rob, it’s not a rich area right around there. Most of the clientele seem to be City and Federal workers and people who have business with the immigration or some other Federal department. Occasionally, one might see a nanny from the more monied points west of Broadway.
I’ve also like the clerks at the Flatbush and 7th DR, though they do tend to let their private conversations interrupt the checkout flow.
I thought they might be gearing up for some business change. First the shelves were quite understocked for several months and then they introduced all their DR brand food products.
Minard: Those are probably the same five people. They just can’t seem to get the cashier to get off their cell phone or come back from “break”.
DR – Good riddance.
There are queues at the cash registers at DR because the clerks are doing their nails & chatting, not because there’re so many customers.
Walgreens is getting scary huge. We took a trip to Florida recently, renting a car and covering most of the southern part of the state. Walgreens is EVERYWHERE. Each time you hit a major intersection, there is a Walgreens, and directly across the street is a Wachovia bank. I did search to see how many Walgreens there are in Florida. The company doesn’t even make the information available.
I hate large chain stores in general and avoid them as much as possible, hard as that is to do. I too was a Duane Reade shopper, because although they are big, they are limited to New York. U.S. mono-culture sucks, IMHO.
does this merger have anything to do with the snooty rich residents who live on Duane Street and Reade Street in downtown manhattan? i bet it does.
*rob*
I grew up in a Walgreens world. I was young. I didn’t realize what I had.
I found the DR across from my first office in midtown so terrible, one of my first stock purchases was Walgreens.
Nothing would make my happier than if they took down every DR sign in the city tomorrow.
Duane Reade has a very succesful business model. It seems no matter what time of day or night I walk into the store there is always a line of at least five people waiting for checkout.
Snow, rain, gloom of night: five people waiting on line.
I prefer CVS, maybe its just me, but it seems a half notch better. Walgreens is a regular, nice, American operation.
I love going to the Walgreen’s in the country. well, what I consider the country and many would consider the suburbs.
I also believe that CVS are better than DR
Yes. This sort of sucks in a nostalgic sense, but I must admit, if pressed, Duane Reade’s tend to be the most scrappy.
With the least helpful workers, and with the least edited inventory.
I usually choose CVS or Walgreens when given an option. Which of course, I always am, given that on any particular Manhattan street corner one will find 2 Chase banks, a Starbucks, a Duane Reade and 3 CVS’s. Walgreens is usually up the street.