Duane Reade

I am very satisfied with the layout of the store. The merchandise is always stocked on the shelf and the staff is cordial. The employees are not disgruntled and very helpful. When the line is long another staff member will come and open a new register. There is another entrance in the back of the store but is only open during pharmacy hours. Sometimes I will be tricked to walk to the back of the store to exit only to find out I have to walk back to the 8^th and 53^rd Street corner exit. I do like their magazine Isle. I am able to sneak read an article here and there without inconveniencing another patron.

Formal Complaint:
WHAT IS WITH THE VOLUME OF YOUR STOCKED BOXES OF ORIGINAL CHEEZ-​IT (or lack there of I should say…)? If I walk into a store, I expect to be able to acquire a NUMBER of boxes on any given day, and that is sadly just not the case in your store.
Your customer care? Magnificent. Service? SUBLIME! But the quantity of your CHEEZ-​IT in-​stock shows me that you instead do not care. It’s callous, distasteful, heck I’d say downright MALICIOUS, and hope you will take my thoughts seriously.
Good day sir. I SAID GOOD DAY!

I come back to this store because of their great customer service. The staffs are very helpful and friendly and that’s one of the reasons that I come back. The store is in good condition and the products are in good quality. Also my side job calls for me to do a quick mystery shopping and take some pictures the other day in this store to help the owners of this location check to see what could be improved and yes, 2 thumbs up. Keep up the great customer service everyone! On the side note, we would love it if the price could be lower tho :)

Stopped by on a stormy winter day while carrying a kitchen appliance that I had intended fas a gift for a friend nearby.
Went in to grab a greeting card and decent gift bag.
I must admit, although they carry a full isle dedicated to greeting cards, they sure as hell are missing some key ones (especially on the basic side.)
After finally a blank card that was presentable enough — I was perplexed at how little they had in the gift bag department — they only had one big bag, which I got in hopes of fitting the big dumb thing I had with me. Sadly, it didn’t fit, but only found out after it was purchased and unwrapped (the gift bag, that is.)
The High (er) star rating goes to the helpful employee who checked me out, and went all the way back trying a find a pen for me when I asked for one. It didn’t just stop there, as I unwrapped the gift bag I had just bought and was trying to fit the appliance into it, she came running to my assistance asking if I needed help putting it in the bag. When we discovered that it didn’t fit, she ran out back –again– and got some of the Duane Reade bags (the bigger ones), but those didn’t fit either. So to make a long story short she suggested (and executed) something: She went ahead and grabbed a see-​through big bag — put the appliance in it and wrapped it in an artisan way in which I managed to carry it (and protect it from the rain and snow outside!)
Thank you Ms!!! (I’m sorry I didn’t catch the name — but I’m pretty sure there was a K in there somewhere!)

You can’t get an extra star from me if you don’t have 5^th Avenue candy bars at the register! How many Duane Reade’s do I need to review before they understand that?
The lack of my impulse purchase of choice notwithstanding, I usually find what i need pretty quickly here. During pharmacy hours, you can enter through the door on 8^th Avenue close to 54^th St, so that saves me some walking and I am INCREDIBLY lazy.
They do a good job of keeping their stock up to date. They don’t have as much selection as the DR at 52^nd and Broadway, but the lines are generally much shorter here. Since this is close to my apartment, I go here a lot.
So I’ll continue to get a Snickers when I check out, but I’ll eat it resentfully.

This Duane Reade was better than most. The staff, while aloof, was still very helpful when pressed. The aisles were well stocked and organized, the store was clean, and they are open ²⁴⁄₇. So much better than the one over on 9^th Ave!!!

Duane Reade is the NYC version of the ABC Store (in Hawaii) — they all carry the exact same things and they seem to be on almost every block! I have found the ²⁴⁄₇ hours of this location to be very beneficial. When you need something in the middle of the night, it’s great to know that Duane Reade is open so you can get it.
Pros:
Good selection of stuff
Open ²⁴⁄₇
Cons:
Pharmacy isn’t ²⁴⁄₇
Employees aren’t always helpful (depends on who you ask)

This location is a weird maze and the aisles are narrow. I remember when Duane Reade was not on every corner like Starbucks. They recently revamped the rewards program we will see what happens. I desperately needed tissues on a cold Sunday afternoon before seeing a matinée of Fela! and Duane Reade was there for me.
This is my 600^th review *throws confetti*

After writing a hater review of the DR on 5^th Ave and 23^rd St I decided to balance it out with a positive review for this location. I had just moved to NYC and wanted a DR member card. I asked at the counter but she said they were out so she paged a guy to search in the back. He stopped what he was doing to go hunt around and found one for me. I thought that was really nice of them because she could have just told me they were out of them and left it at that. She also waited for me to fill it out before taking another customer even though I told her I could fill it out on the side. I appreciate this experience and will definitely go back to this DR… if there’s no CVS nearby.

The employees definitely give the impression that they’re the sort of people who concentrate really hard when tying their shoes.
I get lost in this store almost every time. I can never find what i’m looking for until i realize i’ve passed it twice already but somehow didn’t notice it. If the employees were more clever, i’d wonder if they intentionally hid things just to make customers question their own sanity. But that clearly isn’t it, so it’s just fantastically bad organization.
I’d probably have rated this place two stars as well, but in comparison to the Rite Aid down the street, this place gets a bonus star.

It’s open all the time — yay.
It’s lit (like all DRs) by flourescent lighting — boo.
It’s instant photo printing service produces great prints — yay.
It’s a labyrinth that traps me for 15+ minutes whenever I stop in — boo.
edit (12÷12÷06): two months later, I’ve come to realize that the people who man the cash registers are slow and incompetent. boo. minus two stars. the lady who runs the photo counter is the sole exception to my assement of the personnel at this location.