To some excerpts!
It is a familiar sight to anybody who has spent any time in this city: the ubiquitous drug store chain. This is the one business that seems immune to rent hikes or gentrification. The drug store shines in poor areas as well as rich ones. And it doesn’t seem to matter that the nearest competition is two or three blocks away. It doesn’t even seem to matter to a Duane Reade that the nearest competition is another Duane Reade.
And!
Another broker in the know pointed out that you can find a Duane Reade across the street from Walgreens in Union Square, because they have different customers—even if both sets are convenience-driven. Another retail specialist noted that perhaps one drug store chain could set up shop nearby a competitor, thinking the latter is underserved or its lease is coming due.
And, per the article, this drug store boom is happening all over the city, not just around these parts, where on Astor Place for example, there's a CVS going in at the IBM Watson Building/Death Star across the [construction zone] from Walgreens and Kmart (with its pharmacy area) ... Not to mention the recently expanded Walgreens on East 14th Street and Fourth Avenue … and the Duane Reade locations on East 14th Street and Third Avenue … and East 14th Street and Broadway ... and the Duane Reade that's rumored to be expanding on Third Avenue and East 10th Street. And the Duane Reade on Broadway near East 10th Street... and...
As for that incoming CVS on Astor Place... the plywood came down this week...
... and we've seen trucks unloading the CVSandise all week...
No official word on an opening date. But soon. And if our count is correct, this will mark Manhattan's 45th CVS. Still lagging behind the 91 Duane Reades though, per the Observer.
19 comments:
Drugstore Square
Props to CVS for not selling cigarettes anymore. Now if only they could stop selling soda, candy, and bag snacks too. Duane Reade and Rite Aid selling beer is a joke. I think we have to call these chains convenience stores at this point for all the crap they sell. I'm shocked 7 Eleven hasn't tried to plant their flag anywhere near Astor Place.
Someone could make alot of money opening a chain of no frills healthy stuff only drugstores like the Paris on Michael Moore visited in Sicko. No soda, candy, cigarettes, bag snacks, or any other crap which doesn't promote good health.
I suppose many people shop at these places not to get Advil necessarily but to buy things most of us buy at our favorite delis and bodegas. The big shiny signs and oversized windows act as sirens to these people and assures them of safe, clean and acceptable places to spend money, translation = people who only buy from corporate stores.
I always wonder what kind of stupid empty moron would buy a sandwich from Duane Reede, and the answer is always the same: an American.
@ anon 5:35
7-11 tried to put up shop on St. Marks put left after a year. Only about a block away from the Astor Place CVS.
I don't mind a drugstore every few blocks, sometimes you just need toiletries or condoms at 2am. My problem is when there's _nothing but_ drugstores. The block on 3rd ave between 9th and 10th streets literally has nothing between Duane Reade and CVS. In the past year, Saints Alp, East Village Cheese, and even Subway all left that block - though that last one's no big loss.
Soon, you'll walk from Duane Reade at 3rd between 9th and 10th to CVS at 3rd between 8th and 9th, round the corner to Walgreens at 4th Ave and Astor and have seen nothing aside from drugstores. I thought the three DR/Walgreens on 14th St. was funny, I think this is just sad.
People want toothpaste and condoms at 2am because there's other stuff in the village to eat, see, and do during the day. Soon there will be nothing left to eat, see, and do, and what will CVS and DR/Walgreens do then?
This is nauseating. Note to city: no more fucking drugstores please. What a joke.
Just shows you how profitable this rip off drug store business is.
Look everyone all we need in the EV going forward is drug stores and sports bars. You can get food and drink at both, woo.
Right. But at none of these places can you get the GOOD shit. I mean drugs. I- oh never mind..
Straight out of Idiocracy..Back to you Tylenol!
If people weren't shopping in them, they wouldn't stay open. St. Mark's Bookstore could learn something from them.
Give us a fucking break. Seriously? Another drugstore/chain in the EV. Barf. Enough. I feel like this hood resembles somewhere too safe in the burbs...
NY Magazine did a great piece on about 10 years ago called The Mystery of Duane Reade." Back then these stores barely made any money and have razor thin profit margins of 1%. They saved on rent by leasing odd multi-floor spaces, with half the store in the basement or 2nd floor, and strange layouts that other chains rejected. They stock thousands of SKUs, push a ton of health and beauty products, contraceptives, Viagra, sleeping pills, and rice cakes, and pay employees as little as possible. Now that they are part of the Walgreen's empire, the NY stores are just there to pump more revenue to pump up the stock price. But Duane Reade knows how to sell more dollars per sq. foot than most others. It's a bit dated but still a good read (see what I did there?) and explains why there are so many of these corporate chains in Manhattan. The money quote:
"When New Yorkers make their way to the pharmacy counter, their selections are heavy on sex and therapy and ambivalent about kids. The top-selling sedative, ranked nineteenth nationally, is one of the top five drugs sold at Duane Reade. Also popular here is Viagra, and a couple of anti-AIDS drugs are in the top twenty. But what New Yorkers really specialize in is birth control: Three contraceptives rank in the top 25 of Duane Reade sellers, while no contraceptive breaks the top 50 nationally. “There is no birth-control pill that’s No. 1 in any market except here,” Cuti explains. “It’s the nature of the city. It’s where the action is.”
I'm a little confused...When we complain about the bros and noisy bars, we're told to go move to the suburbs if we want peace and quiet...but now the suburban chains are taking over our neighborhood because that's where they want to shop (forget bodegas and ma and pa shops). Really, who buys sushi at Walgreen's??? They seem to want it both ways.
At 3:07 PM, Anonymous said:
If people weren't shopping in them, they wouldn't stay open. St. Mark's Bookstore could learn something from them.
You think St. Mark's Books should sell candy and beer?
But the mom-and-pop drug stores are the ones I give my business to: Block Drugs on 2nd avenue and 6th street, or East Village Prescription Center on East 3rd and A. Salt of the earth.
Time for a sit in to protest these chainstores from dominating Astor Place no?
Right. Because this is the issue that deserves that level of activity. Not the horrendous shelters the city finances-which force people onto the subways - which are safer than shelters. Your biggest issue is a CVS? Wow.
Scuba Diva, If St. Mark's Bookstore sold beer, they'd definitely sell more books, I'm sure of that. Also, the EV Prescription Center on 3rd Street is a CVS. Check your receipt.
"Block Drugs on 2nd avenue and 6th street"
A little to far for my RX needs but I did buy their T-Shirt. A very cool shirt, IMO.
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