Duane Reade
Duane Reade is a chain of ubiquitous drugstores/convenience stores,
primarily located in New York City.
The store was founded in 1960 on Broadway between
Duane and Reade Streets in lower Manhattan in the vicinity of City
Hall. Duane Reade completed its initial public offering (IPO) on
February 10, 1998. It traded on the New York Stock Exchange under
the ticker symbol DRD until August 2, 2004, when it was acquired
by Oak Hill Capital Partners and taken private.
The chain has greatly expanded in recent years, growing
from 67 stores in 1997 to 241 stores at the end of 2003. Sales for
the 2003 fiscal year totaled $1.4 billion. Almost all of the stores
are in New York City or in the immediate suburbs. The chain is famous
for fitting its stores into awkwardly shaped locations, meaning
that many locations are multiple stories with odd layouts. The chain
also has a reputation for high prices and slow checkouts.
Duane Reade is currently under fire for unfair practices
in terms of the treatment of its employees. This is due to Duane
Reade's tendency to hire immigrants who dont know American labor
laws, college students who work for temporary periods of time for
pocket money, and members of the lower economic classes who cannot
afford to formally bring forth complaints about these practices
without the fear of losing ones job. A lot of workers for Duane
Reade usually do not work for longer than 6 months (some only last
as short as a few days), due to stressful conditions, horrid hours,
and unfair (and even allegedly racist) treatments by the managers
and their superiors.
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