Duane Reade customers surprised by Walgreen deal, hope chain keeps NYC identity

Duane Reade shoppers hope chain keeps identity

NEW YORK — Named after two downtown city streets 50 years ago, Duane Reade is ubiquitous in parts of New York City yet exists nowhere else.

Shoppers wondered Wednesday how the acquisition of the 250-plus stores by Walgreen Co. would affect the quintessentially New York-ish drugstore chain.

Marcia Barran and Natalie Fleysher were admiring the product range at the newest Duane Reade, which opened Wednesday in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood.

“I didn’t think it would be so much like a supermarket,” Fleysher said of the freezer case stocked with cheesecake, pizza and bags of chicken legs.

New York natives in their 20s who grew up shopping at Duane Reade, both women said they had been apprehensive when they learned of the Walgreen deal.

“I’ve always known Duane Reade,” Fleysher said.

Barran said she prefers Duane Reade to other chains because she believes the prices are better, and she was “a little sad” when she heard about the acquisition by Walgreen.

“I’ve been a loyal customer,” she said. “We’re just going to wait and see what happens.”

Deerfield, Ill.-based Walgreen said it would pay $623 million for Duane Reade Holdings Inc. Including $457 million in debt held by Duane Reade, the transaction is valued at $1.08 billion.

Walgreen officials said the two brands would remain separate for the foreseeable future.

Walgreen had 7,162 stores across the nation as of Jan. 31, but just 70 in the New York metropolitan area. Duane Reade has 257 stores, all in New York City. It is named after the original store on Broadway between Duane and Reade streets.

Duane Reade is currently owned by a group that includes affiliates of the buyout firm Oak Hill Capital Partners. But its marketing emphasizes the chain’s New York identity. Icons like the Brooklyn Bridge and the Flatiron Building are pictured on the packaging of store-brand nuts and dried fruit.

Walgreen CEO Greg Wasson said the acquisition of Duane Reade “gives us a leadership position in the nation’s No. 1 drugstore market.”

Some shoppers said the deal wouldn’t affect them.

Enrique Napoles, browsing the greeting cards at a Duane Reade near Penn Station, said that while the Walgreen deal was surprising, “I don’t think it’s going to make a big difference to the customers.”

Jonathan Stefiak, buying toothpaste at a smaller Duane Reade a couple of blocks from the new store, said he is not particularly loyal to any drugstore chain.

“I just go to the one that’s closest,” he said.