By Doug Stephens
Retail concepts in Manhattan don’t always make the best examples for emulation elsewhere but there may at least be some strong directional cues to be taken from Duane Reade’s new flagship store, opening tomorrow in New York.
According to Convenience Store News, the 22,000-square-foot flagship store, located at 40 Wall St. will operate 24 hours a day and take a decidedly more upmarket position than previous concepts. While maintaining a strong focus on health and beauty, the store will also offer a “sushi station, featuring a chef and full menu; a juice market, offering smoothies; a Starbucks coffee and fresh bakery counter; one of Coca-Cola’s new Freestyle machines dispensing 130 varieties of Coca-Cola; and an expanded natural and organic section containing fresh fruits, vegetables, wraps, sandwiches and salads.” There will also be a doctor on the premises.
What seems clear with the concept, is that Duane Reade is building a model for a store that is not simply a place to visit but rather the place to be. It speaks to the certainty of the drugstore becoming an increasingly central aspect of life for the approximately 1 in 4 Americans heading into senior citizenship. It clearly positions the store as the place to accomplish many of the day’s medical, shopping and leisure tasks in one, easy to shop destination.
Another and perhaps more subtle undertone of the story touches on what many see as a growing polarization of wealth in America, where the traditional, middle of the road drugstore can no longer serve an increasingly economically disparate population. Instead, such mid-tier stores will likely be replaced with either high-end wellness stores like this one or bare-bones dispensaries for those with less financial means. The local drugstore as we knew it, may be nearing it’s end.
So, while you might not find a sushi bar in the Walgreen’s in Keokuk Iowa anytime soon, what seems certain is that drugstores in America will increasingly expand beyond their health and beauty roots, into a myriad of other product and service categories. For those who can afford the experience, such stores will not simply be places we go when we’re sick but rather places we go to be well – a hub of our daily lives.