Duane Reade

Somehow Crown Heights is still lacking in big-​name pharmacy chains, so we ended up here for some essentials, and the selection was sufficient & the staffers were friendly.

Duane Reade is now just the marked-​up outlet of Walgreen’s, the Banana Republic to the Gap, Lexus to Toyota. Open ²⁴⁄₇. The savings card is worth getting because it gives you real deals pretty quickly.

Everything in Duane Reade is expensive and sometimes not worth it (except when it’s a total emergency)! There are sales here and there but you have to look for them (look in the weekly advertisements)! I came here to purchase some on the go snacks (which tasted fresh) and some mini travel essentials, which were reasonably priced!

Will take passport photos. Can be quick 10 – 15 mins if you get a helpful sales associate.

I only seem to come here during super off hours, since they’re open late and there are no convenience stores near me now that Walgreen’s on 3^rd has closed and Target is where dreams go to die. Luckily Duane Reade is open 24 hours, so you can buy some beer, chips, emergency drain clearing liquid, or a last minute cast for your arm (long story). Most of the cashiers I’ve dealt with have been super nice.

I Call the Pharmacy Dept. to have a Medication Transfer from one of their Manhattan location to this location, not a good Morning or how can I help you, I then asked for the name of the person who answered the phone, he reply Miguel I ask Miguel if he was able to call the Duane Reade in Manhattan and get it transfer to Duane Reade at 296 Flatbush Ave Brooklyn which is conveniently only a couple of blocks from where I live, he answered we don’t do that, with no additional information. And so I proceeded to call the call the Duane Reade in Manhattan, and they transfer the meds to the location in Brooklyn in Five minutes. The Pharmacist in Manhattan told me that Miguel could have done the transfer. P. S the medication was for an upper respiratory infection, and those of you with Chronic Asthma know how vital it is to get on antibiotics ASAP.

24 hours, baby. Came here at 3:50 when the partner woke up having an allergic reaction to some sort of pastry she purchased in Chinatown and ate the previous evening. Benadryl and some Cortizone. Inside the DR, people were stocking shelves and listening to their jamz. They knew well enough to harken to when I needed a cashier, and one of them helped me ring up my purchase. 24 hours baby. Totally competent staff. Do it.

This review is for their pharmacy department only.
I had a couple terrible experiences here where I had come in to pick up insulin syringes at the specified date/​time after I had dropped off the Rx from the doc and… they didn’t have the syringes. This hasn’t happened on just one occasion, it has happened a couple times. (I now go to Park Place pharmacy across the street, by Starbucks)
Never once did I receive a call to say «We are sorry, we told you your syringes would be here tomorrow but they are now back ordered», so that I could make other arrangements. Not once was I told «We are so sorry, we are out, but we reserved a box of syringes for you at Duane Reade the next neighborhood over». Oh no, nothing like that. I would show up when I was supposed to, be strung along for days, and panicked because I needed those needles.
Don’t trust them with anything remotely important to your health.

The stupidity of those at the pharmacy are just astounding! I can’t speak for the pharmacist himself but for the man who rang me up for my prescription at a whopping $ 80 more than it usually costs.
When I questioned it, he very confidently said it was due to it being a new year and it went towards my deductible. yes, partly my fault for not just walking away from Mr. «I know all the answers» and calling my insurance company.
When I called them the next day, they said no, I should not have paid that, no not a penny went towards my deductible so basically, I flushed $ 80 dollars down the drain because this guy was SURE about why I was being charged what.
Word of advice Walgreens/​Duane Reade? Tell you employees to just simply say, you will have to check with your insurance. That answer would have saved my family money.
If you have to go here, don’t ask these morons anything! More importantly, don’t listen.

Shout-​out to Pharmacist Aleksander who on ¹²⁄₂₇ bore witness to me screaming an expletive on the phone to someone at City MD and then spoke to them and filled my RX in a swift manor. He conducted himself as a professional when I was being a little mental.

This Duane Reade location refused to let me drop off a prescription for someone else, saying they needed to appear there in person and show ID. I guess the pharmacy techs are confused, since that’s true if someone is picking up certain painkillers, but anyone is supposed to be allowed to drop off the prescription. It seems odd for a pharmacy to make up rules to make things things extra difficult for people who are disabled or ill.

Pros: it’s open 24hours and was recently updated. It has all the things you’d expect to find in a Duane Reade and the sales are pretty impressive (ex 6 of those big Gatorades for $ 6)
Cons: This place has no organization, just things randomly jumbled on shelves. The line gets ridiculous in there at times, I mean it extends beyond the curved barrier (where the put all those conveniently placed random things you don’t need but buy anyway) and goes down the aisle at times. Last time I was in there I couldn’t find a blue pen Smh. N finally, they don’t have the «black people make up» I guess that’s a very population specific problem tho lol

Avoid their photo service. I wanted to try their analog films process service (wrong idea) and it took 10 days to get the photos back, quality was really bad and price very expensive. If you’re looking for rolls/​films, and if you don’t have any other option, it’s fine but avoid the photo service.

Incompetent, LAZY and unprofessional, that sums up this place. The management at this store don’t have a clue about what they are doing. And if what you request requires «too much work», they’ll tell you the machine is broken or they just cannot complete the task for whatever garbage reason.

Since their remodel a couple of years ago, I can never find what I need. The majority of shelf space is taken up by junk food, beer, and diet products. I was told by an employee that many many health related products were eliminated from stock to make room for more junk. I can no longer find many of the products I used to get there. I’m taking my drug store shopping online. Good riddance to Duane Reade.

This pharmacy is ALWAYS a problem. Even after warning my doctor to speak with someone about calling in prescriptions, they somehow lose them, get them wrong, and are rude while doing it.
I have set timers for 15 minutes after each call in/​fax in and when I come up to check on the order they yell over each others shoulders «that just came in 3minutes ago!!»
I tell them I set a timer, I’ll set another for 20, but it wasn’t 3min. They mumble something and asked for my insurance all over. Had to update my phone and address each time, had issues with insurance going through but they said nothing about it!!! AWFUL!!! Finding a new Pharmacy now. Too bad they are the only large one around.

This location is an ordinary chain drugstore with ridiculously jacked-​up prices. Do people actually pay $ 1.99 for a 20-​ounce bottle of Poland Spring when it’s only $ 1 at the convenience store a few doors down? Not me! I was only there today to buy a money order to pay for a passport I was getting at the Brooklyn Public Library nearby. So FYI, they sell money orders. That’s the only use I have for this Duane Reade.

It’s probably wrong that I am happy to be back at this pharmacy since I always had an issue with getting my meds on time. However, now I do get my meds w/​o hassle. I also get good service… never happened before.
Also the redesign is pretty cool and the mini market is definitely convenient for the 2am shoppers like me :)

This location was recently updated and is kept stocked and clean. The pharmacy is pretty quick and staff is overall pretty nice.
Like all other Duane Reade’s everything is overpriced unless what you are looking for happens to be on sale.
I generally come in here late night or to pick up something quickly as its the closest store to my apt.

$ 2.19 for a bottle of VitaminWater? Really?
Yes I understand that part of the cost is due to the stunning views of the Côte d’Azur *, but that price is 69 cents more than the overpriced bodega down the street.
FreshDirect will carry that shit up 3 flights of stairs to your front door for $ 1.49 a bottle.
With 253 stores, you’d think that Duane Reade might have some volume discount, passing the savings onto customers. Next time I’ll know to lube up in advance.
* Pronounced (flat-​bush-​ave)