Walgreens to Acquire Duane Reade
Walgreen Co. will acquire Duane Reade from affiliates of Oak Hill Capital Partners in a cash transaction for a total enterprise value of $1.075 billion, which includes the assumption of debt, the companies announced today.
The transaction includes all 257 Duane Reade stores located in the New York City metropolitan area, as well as the corporate office and two distribution centers. Walgreens anticipates that the transaction will close in its current fiscal year, which ends Aug. 31.
Duane Reade will continue to operate under its brand name after the transaction closes, according to Walgreens, which is based in Deerfield, IL.
"Duane Reade is a compelling strategic acquisition that will immediately provide Walgreens with a leading position in the largest drugstore market in the U.S.,” said Walgreens president and chief executive offier Greg Wasson. “In addition, Duane Reade’s recent initiatives in urban retailing, customer loyalty and private brand products support and accelerate Walgreens strategy to enhance the customer experience in our network of more than 7,100 stores across the country."
Duane Reade had unaudited net sales of $1.8 billion for the latest 12-month period ending Dec. 26, 2009, and has the highest sales per square foot in the retail drugstore industry nationwide.
Walgreens, which currently operates 70 stores in the New York City metropolitan area, said decisions will be made over time as to the best, most effective way to harmonize the Walgreens and Duane Reade brands.
Personally, I have never been to a Duane Reade since I live on the opposite side of the country. But I'm wondering, after reading the part about how "decisions will be made over time as to the best, most effective way to harmonize the Walgreens and Duane Reade brands" if that means we might eventually see some brands at Walgreens that used to be specific to Duane Reade (or vice versa). It doesn't look like Walgreens is planning on changing the names of exisiting Duane Reades to Walgreens, but then again, if you're in CA, you know what eventually happened to our beloved Longs Drugs Stores (CVS bought them and eventually changed them all over to CVS or closed the stores completely). So who really knows what will happen at this point.
So New Yorkers! Let us know what brands are currently available at Duane Reade! Do they have any good house brands? Maybe Walgreens will take the best of Duane Reade and start making those brands available at Walgreens throughout the nation. Wouldn't that be neat?
I remember Long's. When I lived in Las Vegas, I loved that store. They had them all there: Rite Aid, CVS, Walgreens and Long's! I do hope we see some new brands. Here in Oregon, we don't have any CVS stores! =( Either way, I am all for Walgreens getting some new products!
ReplyDeleteI live in NYC and I'm pretty indifferent to the change. There's not really any house makeup brands duane reade has that walgreens doesn't.
ReplyDeleteI actually prefer Walgreens because Duane Reade actually eliminated their BOGO deals altogether. Duane Reade has a points card that used to be 100 points (1 point per dollar) would give you a $5 coupon. However, in the beginning of the year, they revamped the card and now it's 2 points per dollar and 500 points for the coupon. Somehow spending $250 for a measly $5 coupon doesn't seem worth it...
Thank you for the news though! Hopefully this will bring some benefit to us shoppers =]
I actually really love Duane Reade. They have just about every brand that CVS, Rite Aid and Walgreens carry but all in one place. For example, I know here (in my part of NY), CVS got rid of wet n wild, so I've learned to go to Wags or RA for that brand. And if I want Jane, I know to go to RA because Wags & CVS don't carry it anymore. Duane Reade eliminates that "where do I go for XYZ?" confusion because they have it all.
ReplyDeleteDuane Reade carries almost everything: Rimmel, NYC, Prestige, Cover Girl, wet n wild, Styli-Style, L'Oreal, Revlon, Maybelline, Essie, Physicians Formula, Sally Hanse, Black Opal, Sinful Colors, Brucci, Jordana, and Milani. At the DRs near me, they just recently clearanced out all of Jane and Max Factor and replaced the displays with Palladio and a brand called Latina. Some Duane Reades in NYC also carry NYX, Iman and Jesse's Girl, but a really tiny, miniscule selection.
Duane Reade's an extremely convenient place to shop for makeup in the city because it's on every block. I think there are over 200 Duane Reade stores in NYC alone. They're everywhere! This happened gradually but they basically bought out all the mom & pop pharmacies in NYC and took over the city.
The only thing that stinks - and I mean REALLY stinks -- is Duane Reade hardly ever has any sales. You're lucky if they have a $1-$2 off sale on brands. I don't think I can remember DR ever having a BOGO or BOGO50% sale. But if you're looking for a Limited Edition item in a counter display, Duane Reade is the place to go. Since they have so many locations, you're bound to find a half-empty or even a full display anywhere you go.
For convenience, Duane Reade is tops. And if you want to check out (and not necessarily buy) new and limited edition items as soon as they're released, this is the place. But if you're looking for good deals, skip it.
Duane Reade's okay for browsing items but I don't really shop there. Compared to Rite Aid, Walgreens and CVS, Duane Reade's cosmetics return policy stinks. Unless an item is unopened and still in its original packaging, they won't accepts returns or exchanges. So tough luck if you bought the wrong color foundation and want to swap it for a lighter/darker shade.
ReplyDeleteBesides the cosmetic brands mentioned above, Duane Reade also carries Carlo di Roma.
I don't care for Duane Reade because I find them really expensive...well, everything in New York is expensive but I feel DR is even more expensive than other drugstores. Their sales aren't as good as other drugstores, either. They do usually have the new limited edition displays out faster than other stores, though.
ReplyDeleteThey have a house brand of makeup called Apartment 5 but it isn't anything special.
I used to go to NY a lot when I lived on the east coast to see Saturday Night Live. Duane Reade really represents NY to me because there are so many there. When I see a duane reade, I immediately think of new york. I think the 2 top stores in terms of number of locations is Duane Reade and Starbucks. Coffee and aspirin is so NY. I'm glad Wags bought them because they have better sales and I like them as a company better, and since they intend to keep the name of the store it can still be nostalgic. Best of both worlds.
ReplyDeleteDuane Reade is sort of annoying. They never have any good sales and they don't have their own products like Walgreen's does. I find that Walgreen's also has much better sales and discounts. Hopefully they give us a lot more sales!
ReplyDeleteOk, this isn't exactly on topic, but it looks like Walgreen's is d/c their BOGO Free and going to BOGO 1/2 off. They are so much higher than WalMart that BOGO free still only saves a little bit over the everyday price at WM.
ReplyDeleteI just don't feel like BOGO1/2 is a genuine deal. 10-25% just isn't enough sale to suit me!
I noticed the same thing about Walgreen's that Denise mentioned.
ReplyDeleteOf course, there aren't any Duane Reades in my area, but Walgreen's did acquire Eckerd Drug, which I loved. I hate that none of the stores in my area carry everything, so I hope for NY folks they will continue to do that, and maybe make the sales better.
They also carry Neutrogena and Almay.
ReplyDeleteIf Duane Reade starts having better sales and adopts Walgreen's return policy then I'll be content with the buy out. Duane Reade's non-existant sales and return policy are the main reasons I don't buy there even though they're everywhere in NYC.
I live in NYC and I personally can't stand Duane Reade. Yes, it's convenient, but it's SO overpriced. Also, they very rarely have sales. Even when they do have sales, it's never as great as CVS, Rite Aid, or Walgreens.
ReplyDeleteI hope that now they'll implement more sales (hello? can we get a BOGO at least once a year on something)... but I'm not expecting much from this takeover.
Personally, I just walk the extra 10 blocks or so to get to a CVS or Walgreens!
I'm not a fan of either, I prefer CVS. I don't actually have a Duane Reade in my area and the only thing I like about the Walgreens in my area is the 24 pharmacy. Maybe they will revamp their cosmetics area in both drugstores!
ReplyDeleteYeah! I've been thinking all along that Duane Reade stinks because their sales cannot even compare to the other drugstores. However, since they are on every other corner, changing them to the Walgreen's sales model would be great!
ReplyDeleteThis is interesting news. Hopefully nothing will change except the prices. Compared to all the other drugstores available, DR's prices are much higher and their sales are nothing compared to those of CVS, Rite Aid, and Walgreens. However, like someone said earlier, their selection is amazing, and they do seem to have everything. It doesn't hurt that they seem to be on every other block when you're in the city, so their convenience is definitely a plus. Although I used to try to avoid DR cause everything there costs so much more, it was impossible and I grew to love the place. Now that I'm no longer in NYC, I really miss having a drugstore on every other block.
ReplyDeleteDuane Reade carries Carlo di Roma? (I've never been in one.) I know it's unlikely, but now I'm going to hope that this eventually leads to Walgreens carrying CdR. That would be the best thing ever, because my local Dollar Tree rarely has any in stock.
ReplyDeleteThe Duane Reade nearby just installed a big LA Splash wall display. The liquid and glitter eyeliners and nail polishes caught my eye. The colors looked so pretty.
ReplyDeleteI stopped in at Duane Reade today to see if there are any other brands there that weren't already mentioned. Duane Reade also carries Black Radiance and Tropez.
ReplyDeleteLadies! WOW, thank you all for such amazing feedback on Duane Reade! I have to say I'm a bit jealous that they seem to carry every drugstore brand in the known universe all under one roof, and that they also feature limited edition displays that a lot of us don't get the pleasure of seeing on a regular basis. BUT, that is a HUGE bummer about the lack of sales, higher prices and crummy return policy. I am hoping for all of you NY girls that they will adopt Walgreen's return policy ASAP!
ReplyDeleteAlso, Denise and Nicole: I am SO bummed that Walgreens seems to have ended their BOGOF sales. I didn't notice that the last time I was there (though admittedly I frequent CVS and Rite Aid more than Walgreens) but that is a HUGE bummer because, as it stands, Walgreens prices on beauty products are generally more expensive than the other drugstores. If they're taking away BOGOF deals, then what's the incentive to buy from them? They could at least increase the Register Rewards on makeup for us, right? :)
I live in new york city, and Duane reade at certain locations are offering new high end cosmetics at the duane reades that have the "look boutique" and these brands are not going to be at wallgreens atleast i have not seen them at wallgreens, but certain duane reades do have actual products new on display. And some are as expensive as sephora brands.
ReplyDelete