Duane Reade

Dispensing medication isn’t a joke. Train your staff right and teach them how to properly use the processing systems. If they are not capable of learning and getting simple tasks right, you should hire better ones.

Reviewing a Duane Reade feels a bit like reviewing a McDonald’s — there’s a thousand of ‘em, they all suck, and I don’t know a single person who comes out of a Duane Reade feeling good about the world. Duane Reade as a brand, as a chain, is a bit like the Union Square Walgreen’s: I go there because I need fuckin’ toilet paper, not because I like enjoy the shopping experience.
So when Duane Reade opened in Sunset Park, it was a big, confusing revelation, of sorts. The storefront glows like the future. It’s clean — possibly the cleanest place in the entire neighborhood. As you walk past that brightly-​lit section of 5^th Avenue, trash tornados spinning around you, the world just on the other side of the glass looks like some sort of consumerist heaven from the future!
Prior to Duane Reade’s opening, we had a number of fantastically chaotic pharmacies dotting the neighborhood. The aisles of Rite Aid, just a flew blocks south, look like an earthquake struck weeks ago and nobody bothered to pick the shit up. Health Max, kitty-​corner from the Rite Aid, seems alright, for the most part, but whenever I tried having a script filled, they’d only have half the amount or, better yet, I’d be stuck chillin’ behind like 50 old folks with canes, diabetes, and a bad case of the «SHITTY INSURANCE BLUES.» And all the mom-​and-​pop pharmacies are cool if you need Robitussin, but I tend to be a pharmacy power-​shopper, like poppin’ out with a satchel of ointments, lozenges, balms, and all sorts of crazy shit I didn’t realize I needed before I started roaming the aisles. Those places don’t cut it. So anyway.
Duane Reade does the trick. It’s still clean. Well-​stocked. I drop off my prescriptions and they fill ‘em accurately, but I learned the hard way not to expect punctuality. If you say to me, «Hey man, what time are you going to meet me to HANG OUT?,» I’ll give you a time. Bet you five fuckin’ bucks I’m there at that time, or maybe even a minute earlier. I don’t call you fifteen minutes later and tell you that I’m going to be another forty-​five minutes ’cause reasons X, Y, and Z. You follow? That’s how DR rolls. They are the bad friend that everybody puts up with. I just toss ‘em my script and show up a day after they say it’s gonna be ready. Disaster averted.
So why write the review at all? «It’s just a fuckin’ Duane Reade, what’s the point,» you probably say. They sell Six Point Beer. I literally look forward to going to this Duane Reade ’cause they sell Six Point, brewed in Red Hook and sold in 4-​packs of cans for $ 10. I can’t find this shit anywhere else in Sunset Park, so I hit the READE, son!

Duane Reade always has what I’m looking for, and there isn’t a mile long line at the checkout. The pharmacy is pretty quick and friendly, I have never had any issues there. I usually make the longer trip here because it’s a huge store, they carry they things I need and it’s well organized and clean. It is a bit pricey but all DRs are

Passed by this store dozens of times. Finally stopped by on my way to 8^th Avenue. They had every thing I needed. The aisles were well marked and the store was pretty empty at 8pm. Checkout was a breeze.
Anytime a man like me can find what he needs and doesn’t need to waste any time for no apparent reason. Its a successful shopping trip. Oh I did waste some time at the checkout, they put the fucking chocolate there.

I’ve been here on many occasions, and this Duane Reade is probably the worst I’ve seen. I never received customer service, perhaps once in the last 7 visits. I was short changed by five bucks by a male cashier. The store is always empty, I wonder why, oh yeah they’re super expensive. They always run out of the deodorant that I always buy. They really suck. Its an oil and water relationship if you ask me.