Duane Reade

Ugh i love-​hate duane reade. they have what i need but it’s like life in slow-​mo. And their fruit is totally gross. But whenever i need overpriced bandaids there’s nowhere else to go. So much for mom and pop pharmacies…

always a line. The pharmacy is not very helpful either. zero customer service at pharmacy

The only great advantage for this location is that there’s a Look Boutique upstairs way better than my location on 5^th Ave. The second you get off the escalator… you are in heaven… just saying lol! There were no beauty consultants on duty to get advice so I browse in the aisles between my favorite two brands No7 and Botanics.
I don’t know which foundation color is suitable for me so I am going to wait. My eyes lit up when I saw that the Botanics line is on sale for 25% *must use your rewards card*…I definitely need the Facial Oil 100% Organic (really makes my skin feel very hydrated) and I tried a different color of Volumising Lip Gloss (very shiny).
I treated myself today to brighten my day which dark clouds are rolling in the sky =P
I went downstairs to get ring up and saw the long line but it moved pretty fast with many cashiers behind the registers. I guess it was a good morning for me but at least the Look Boutique has its own register =)
The 4 stars review is only based on the Look Boutique. I experienced the pharmacy department by me in Bay Terrace horrible and I wouldn’t suggest dropping off and/​or refilling your prescriptions at any Duane Reade. The pharmacists just doesn’t have the urgency. Go to Rite Aid or CVS!

Just don’t bother!
The lines are always ridiculously long and the people and/​or management running the cash registers obviously have no sense of urgency. It always takes forever to complete a purchase here.
Today I had to use the pharmacy, and the attitude from the pharmacist was that I obviously was an inconvenience, I’ve rarely been treated with such contempt and it was truly a disappointing experience. I inquired about the cost of the medicine that I was about to get here, and they wouldn’t tell me — and it was obviously hinted at, that it would be an inconvenience for them to tell me how much it would be, up front; though that obviously would have an impact on my decision making.
Empathy: F–
A couple of days ago I used another pharmacy, from which I received a hand-​written card thanking me for their business, Hershey’s kisses/​lip balm/​some nutella and everything delivered at my work location — for no extra charge, and with that pharmacy exploring the best options for my insurance.

Desperately need to increase staffing at the pharmacy. Frequent long lines yet the one person doing check-​out has no sense of urgency.

William C. in the photo department is very helpful and he clearly knows what he’s doing!
The reason why I am giving the store 4 stars instead of 5 is because the way products are organized isn’t intuitive.

Cramped and crowded, selection is not good at all. Pharmacy is fairly decent on the upper floor. You are much better off in CVS or Walgreens then this store.

This place is a 2.5 star. I was disappointed with the selection of travel sized stuff. This is a pharmacy located in the heart of Manhattan and they have such small selection…

Standard size Duane Reade however the bottom ground level is a very tight space. Upstairs is a little more spacious however the pharmacy is on the smaller side. Crazy busy pharmacy during lunch and rush hours and they will rush you or it will take forever. Wanted to get a flu shot but the wait was like 1 hour.

I submitted an order for photos on
and chose this location after my closest Walgreens said their photo machine was down (for a week plus now). (Note, Walgreens print quality is horrible but this is for a project my two year old). I received an email confirmation that my photos would be ready that evening for pick up. My husband went by to pick them up after work and the photo center was closed and there was not a photo tech in the store to print the photos. And why would the manager of the store know how to do that!!! Useless. Oh, let’s not forget that I prepaid for the photos online!
I tried to call the store to speak to a manager and couldn’t get through — at 9:00 at night they’re too busy to answer the phone? So I called Walgreens customer service and was told that the website must not have been updated and we would have to find another store to print them. The rep did not offer to find a store to send the photos to, nor did he seem to care that I have already paid for them. This is all extremely unprofessional and I will not be using Walgreens or Duane Reade for photos or anything for that matter, ever again.
Get it together, Walgreens. Going back to Shutterfly.

I dropped off a prescription at the pharmacy. The clerk said they didn’t have my particular medication, but they had a similar medication. Normally I would have taken it but i had a coupon and I knew that pharmacies can special order medication. So I asked if they could order it for me. The clerk insisted that they dont have it and kept suggesting they have the alternative at the behest of one of the pharmacists. It actually annoyed me because of their lack of customer service. I understand that they tried to give me an alternative but it seemed like the clerk didn’t want to hear me or maybe do the extra work of ordering something. Then he passed me off to another clerk as if to say «I’m tired of dealing with this customer, here you try». The next clerk did her job. She ordered the meds. That’s all I wanted. I definitely won’t come here for any prescriptions in the future. I usually receive better customer service at the pharmacy but not here.

It’s not as nice as the one on 52^nd & Broadway, but it’s not horrible.
I was able to get what I needed, although the way the store is chopped up it’s not easy to find things.
The cashier was friendly and efficient.

The pharmacy sucks. Why are they so slow? And why do they fight with their boyfriends on the phone instead of servicing customers? No idea.

Worst experience I ever had with a pharmacy. The pharmacist, Debbie Farazman, who had fill my (perfectly legitimate) Rx for pain meds 2 times before, suddenly decided NOT to fill it because she «didn’t feel comfortable.» This was AFTER she called my doctor (a Mayo clinic grad) & his assistant and spoke to them to find out if it was legit! I’ve never had anyone — a pharmacist, a doctor, a mechanic — decide not to give me a service because they didn’t feel «personally» comfortable doing it. Obviously, I’m writing a letter to Duane Reade management about this pharmacist and this store. A new low.

Two stars only because the stuff is so rude and helpless. They not paying any attention to the customers!

What is wrong with Duane Reade cashiers? Were they not held enough as children?
I am waved up the register by the tiny old man cashier.
He scans my items quickly without looking at me.
I hand him my Rewards Card.
He scans it.
I hold out my $ 10 bill.
He puts out his hands and makes a grabbing motion.
He still won’t look at me.
I put the $ 10 in his hand.
He pushes it aside and continues grabbing.
«No!» he says.
«What?» I say.
Finally, he looks at me and points to my Rewards Card.
I hand it to him and he scans it again.
He makes the grabbing motion again.
I give him my money.
As I’m putting away my Rewards Card, he holds out my change.
«SIR!» he yells, thrusting the money toward me and shaking it.
«OKAY!» I yell back, «JESUS CHRIST!»
I take my money.
I leave.
I hate Duane Reade.

They have the crap I need.

3.5-stars for me. I really like the layout. I find things at this Duane Reade that I can’t find at others. It’s clean. And i has a photo lab and a Blockbuster Kiosk.
Yes. The cashiers tend to be apathetic and slow as molasses. But it’s open 24-​hours and rather convenient.

Frustrated. Wow if you want to waste your time enter this Duane reade. I have gone in this store 3 times as it is close to a friend of mine’s house. Each and every time I have waited on line at least 20 mins!
the first time I laughed it off as I thought it was one bad day. At my next visit the line was only 3 people long and the cashier couldn’t process a return and there was only 1 cashier. If I didn’t need some allergy medicine I would have left.
Never again. Major staffing issues

24 hours. Almost anything you need.

Huge lower level with plenty of products at expected NYC costs.

Rude manager — Skip this drug store. I bought an expensive item and when I checked out the girl could not find my reward club card info (I and forgotten to bring it). She said to come back the next day and bring the card and the receipt (she was very nice). When I went today she was not there so I tried to explain to the new guy. He said there was no information on the card and that is why the lookup did not work. When he checked with the manager to see if they could give me the credit the manager was really rude. If the manager is rude then how can you expect the staff to be helpful. Walgreens is closer to my house so I think I will just take my business there. Maybe if people stop shopping because of rude staff then the drugstores will realize they can remodel all they want but if they continue to hire unfriendly people then customers will not shop there anymore.

where does duane reade find all of those disgruntled employees? it really is the rudest staff i have ever encountered and the lines are always incredibly long. thank goodness there is a brand new walgreens at broadway and 42^nd where the people are nice and the shelves are clean and tidy.
goodbye forever nasty duane reade!

Closest place to our hotel for snacks, water, and soda. Decent prices, nothing outrageous. We went to this Duane Reade a bunch of times, mostly to pick up water.
What I found strange is that I bought two Duane Reade products that broke right away… one was a fingernail clipper set and one was a box of freezer bags. Both items broke right away. The clippers broke apart as soon as we used it and the first two freezer bags that I used were faulty.
They are also one of those annoying places that make you join the discount club and give you a card in order to get any sale prices. I hate that.
But, hey… it was right near my hotel and had cases of water on sale. And it was open 24 hours. What else do you need??? Watch out for the Duane Reade brand of products though!

Let’s see. To start, it’s a Duane Reade so it automatically SUCKS. However, their innate suckiness aside, they do have a big pharmacy, a large greeting card selection and enough snacks/​drinks for office party emergencies. Aside from that, their service is, oh, non existent and their staff has the personality of a cardboard box. Yes, just the one box. They don’t even get their own boxes.

A Valentine’s tale.
On a business trip in New York. I have worked for almost 2 weeks straight with no days off, and part of my job involves setting up displays. So I get sore and tired, which combined with the constant throbbing of the balls of my feet from pounding the pavement in heels, makes me one sad excuse for a human being.
After a long day, I find myself at Duane Reade. Drugstores are very calming to me, with their rows and rows of cosmetics and home supplies. I love Duane Reade because you can spend hours in there and no one bugs you. I am a browser. Let me browse.
So I gather a few things for a self-​soothing night in my hotel room which include 3 or 4 magazines, a face mask, and a Dr. Scholl’s personal massager. (because I am sore! swear to god). I’m walking around hugging my finds, when I hear «Hi, Liz, fancy running into you here». I spin around and look straight into the face of one of my male co-​workers, who is new to the company and a very nice guy. Well of course, he can’t help himself, and his eyes go right to my personal massager, which might as well have had neon lights calling attention to it. He quickly looks up and we have this very choppy interchange, and I can tell he is saying to himself «don’t look down, don’t look down» and I am talking a blue streak about absolutely nothing, just to fill the silence. In situations like this, I excel at making a bad situation worse. I kept saying how I needed a massage but didn’t have time to get one, so I found this great massager for only $ 17.99 and meanwhile I am saying to myself, «My god! Stop talking about it! Stop! You sound like you’re making excuses» But I can’t stop. AWKWARD!
So of course we end up in the ONE CHECKOUT LINE right next to each other, and I have to ask for Double A batteries, which I try to do discreetly, but of course the sales people have to have a loud conversation about how they only have 8 packs which makes no sense at all, and I said, «That’s fine, it’s fine, really, I’ll take the 8 pack!» Phew. Never thought I would get out of there.
Next day, co-​worker says, «So how was your… um, foot massage?» and I said «Oh it was great, great, just what I needed. You should really get one, they’re really great. How were your snacks? Great. Well, bye!» Cringe. I don’t think anyone made eye contact.
The moral of the story? What happens at Duane Reade stays at Duane Reade. NOT.
I still heart Duane Reade. One-​stop shopping for all of your, uh, needs.