Duane Reade's new look, initiatives come together at its Herald Square store


The two-story, 14,000-sq.-ft. store is an impressive retail space that is a mecca of convenience for New Yorkers and tourists alike.

A section aptly dubbed "apartment living" brings together household products, such as Duane Reade's private brand apt. 5 Goes Green cleaning products, and "Restaurant Row," which houses foods from New York restaurateurs and some of the local restaurants.

To make checkout fast and easy, there are two cash register stations at each side of the store that feature a new queuing system that not only organizes the checkout line but also offers additional selling opportunities.

The store features an expanded frozen foods section.

The downstairs area features a fresh food case with DR Delish-branded sandwiches and salads.

DR Delish is the retailer's exclusive brand of food and beverage items that launched in late September.

"Restaurant Row" houses foods from New York restaurateurs and some of the local restaurants, such as Rao's homemade pasta and Lidia pasta sauce.

The high-end beauty department, dubbed the "Look Boutique," essentially is a store-within-a-store offering beauty mavens brands not typically seen in a drug store setting, such as Too Faced, POP Beauty and Borba.

The beauty department, which has customized display fixtures and LED lighting, is staffed with up to six beauty advisers.

The Herald Square store is the first store with this type of men's grooming fixture.

Through a joint venture with InVite, there is a naturopathic physician stationed in the vitamin and supplement area who can assist shoppers and look up information via a Web-enabled kiosk.

The revamped pharmacy department features privacy panels at the counter for added privacy.

Adjacent to the pharmacy is the DR Walk-In Medical Clinic, which is staffed by a physician and is operated through an agreement with Consumer Health Services. The clinic offers treatment for acute ailments, as well as advanced care for such conditions as minor sprains, minor lacerations and wart removal. It also offers travel medicine and vaccines.

Duane Reade's new Herald Square store, which celebrated its grand opening on Oct. 23, brings to fruition new category innovation, and clearly demonstrates where the brand is headed. The two-story, 14,000-sq.-ft. store truly redefines not only the Duane Reade shopping experience, but also the overall drug store shopping experience. Highlights of the new store include fresh sandwiches and salads under the company's exclusive DR Delish brand, expanded frozen foods, a revamped pharmacy department, an upscale beauty department dubbed "Look Boutique" and the company's fourth in-store medical clinic.