New Magazine Alert: The Duane Reader

Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.

Conde Nast might be experiencing some financial setbacks, but the age of magazines isn't dead as long as Duane Reade is around. As part of its new, city-centric rebranding project, the drugstore chain has begun to publish a periodical called the Duane Reader. We picked up the holiday edition in the Flatiron District yesterday. The articles all manage to connect DR's store-brand products, New York iconography, and the holiday spirit—if you spill cocktail sauce on your Empire State Building t-shirt at a Christmas party, for example, Duane Reade's Apt. 5 "Oops Stick" can help. There's also a holiday planner guide that recommends the Radio City Christmas spectacular and Macy's window displays, and a genuinely useful list of restaurants serving dinner on Christmas. Our favorite part, though, is the back page, which briefly explains the history behind the name of DR's Five Points coffee blend. "Five Points was a notorious slum," it announces cheerfully, before recommending Martin Scorcese's Gangs of New York and/or a trip to the Tenement Museum for those who want to learn more.
· Duane Reade Ups Its Beauty Prestige [Racked]
· RackedWire: Duane Reade Improves Itself [Racked]