Duane Reade

This Duane Reade is right next to my building and it’s the biggest life saver ever. I have never not been able to find anything that I needed. It has everything from alcohol to candy to random household items to a CHASE ATM. Seriously you couldn’t ask for more.
My only tiny gripe is that the line can sometimes be quite long but it always moves along fairly quickly!

I’ve lived in the neighbourhood for about 4.5 years and this is my super local Duane Reade… It’s pretty great.
I love that —
1) it’s 24-​hours
2) they pick up their phone and answer any questions you may have and go in/​around the store looking for the item in question to make sure they have it
3) the pharmacy staff is always super helpful
4) never, ever had a problem with something not being fresh from their selection of fruits, cheese, yogurts, milk or ready-​to-​eat items in the front (salads/​cheese box is what I have tried)
5) the staff of the store itself is really nice!
I know not all stores are perfect, but after living in my neighbourhood for 4.5 years and having had this specific Duane Reade act as my secondary fridge/​medicine cabinet/​pantry… absolutely no true complaints here. :)

The pharmacy in this Duane Reade is the worst! They take forever to give you your prescription and they always make you feel like they are doing you a favor. Like I’m sorry I wanted to pick up my prescription. Kate, the pharmacist, suffers from «bitchy resting face» and refuses to smile and be helpful. I understand that it’s Monday and no one is in the mood to be working but there is absolutely no reason for you to be so annoying to the customers.

Today I purchased a yogurt with the expiration date of 2÷16÷14. The yogurt was rancid when I opened it less than 10 minutes later. How gross. Don’t buy yogurt from this Duane reade.

This is my go to spot for everything since I live right next door. They have a good selection of everything given it’s size. It is veritably not the biggest Duane Reade but it sure has everything you need. There has never been an times where they didn’t have something I wasn’t looking for. Actually except for a auxiliary wire! If anyone from management reads this please offer auxiliary wires! They are usually helpful at this place but most of the time they just don’t care about anything. In the sense that they won’t greet you or talk to you.

This is the mecca of all pharmacies (technically speaking, the real «mecca» is the one on the corner of Duane and Reade St., but work with me). This D.R. is set on the second floor of the Trump Building between Wall St and Pine St and is has the vibe of walking into Bloomingdales and Whole Foods at the exact same time. Your eyes light up by the bright lights, clear displays and hoards and hoards of THINGS. Food, drinks, wiffle bats, panty hose, pharmacy, make-​up, umbrellas, juice bar. You name it, it’s there. You just might have to look for a while.
Loved my experience here, even if it did take me 15 minutes to find the umbrellas next to the check out counter.

Everyone should have a 24 hour DR nearby…
Following Hurricane Sandy this location was quick to recover and bring back all the staples to the FiDi. The store is well laid out, renovated and even stocks some ready to eat food items. Other than that, it’s just like every other DR in the city and for such a vibrant and varied place as NYC, a little consistency is a good thing.

This Duane Reade looks nice and is relatively large, but the checkout staff is painfully slow. (Self checkout is definitely needed here). Additionally, I would not recommend buying anything here with an expiration date such as milk. Extra star for 24 hr access. Go to the one in the Trump building on Wall.

This a fairly new duane reade… or at least it looks new. Somehow this store survived Hurricane Sandy (thanks to the help of FEMA). They have everything you would expect from a Duane Reade. There is nothing exceptional about this DR compared to the other ones only a few blocks away. If you go here for convenience, but it you want to a really nicest one in this area go to the one 40 Wall Street.

I lost my thumb drive (light blue) here on Nov 28^th 2012 — anyone?

Well this Duane Reade is a little on the small size but, there mission is to get you out when you make it to the line.

Since I spend more time in this godforsaken area than any other place in New York City thanks to my godforsaken job, I like that I can rely on this Duane Reade to give me the goods I need.
And by goods, I mean my snacks, forgotten toiletries, travel sized items that I purchase before escaping my job for a bit, and my prescriptions for when I need meds.*
Speaking of prescriptions, what I appreciate the most about this particular location is that after a few months of regularly coming here the pharmacy staff recognized me by sight. They didn’t ask me for my name or insurance card, they simply looked at me, got my prescription and rung me up. I appreciate being treated like a regular, especially since this locale is as densely populated as you can get during business hours.
So yeah, it might be a chain, but they treat me like a neighbor. A snack food loving, weird beverage buying, lotion browsing, neighbor.*
A-​OK
*I swear I’m really not that creepy.

I stand corrected, there is a Duane Reade which is actually decent. I came here a few times, before hitting the free movies at the Elevated Acre. And every time I came here, the employees actually greeted you upon walking in, with a «Hi, how are you?» Something so small like that goes a long way, believe me.
The prices are okay, for Manhattan. If you have a Duane Reade frequent customer card, or whatever its called, you do end up saving money. So you can get a soda for .99 and cookies for $ 1.99.

This particular Duane Reade is very clean, with a good selection and a location that’s convenient to where I live. They also have some of the best prices in the area on household staples like dish soap and paper towels. The staff aren’t too surly most of the time – some of them even smile occasionally.
Their hours are pretty terrible though – I wish businesses below Wall Street would start to recognize that people live down here and might actually need to buy bleach on a Sunday.
I feel kind of silly giving a drug store a four-​star rating, but they have a discount movies bin with a pretty cool selection of flicks. Last week I found a widescreen version of Bottle Rocket for $ 4.99.