Walgreens to Take Over New York's Finest Drugstore Chain

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The Illinois-based Walgreen Co. announced this morning that it was buying Duane Reade—all of its 257 locations, and all of its $457 million in debt. Duane Reade has had a rough year financially, despite its recent adventures in self-improvement, so the deal makes sense. Still, doesn't this make you feel like something has been lost? We used to be able to baffle tourists with our mysterious New York-only drugstore chain. We used to be able to laugh at them when they pronounced it "Dwan Reedy." But now, even though Walgreen Co says it has no intention of changing the name, we'll know that it's not really ours anymore. Duane Reade has never been great, but we used to be able to think that it was bad in a way that reflected something essential about New York. Now, it'll just be another mediocre national chain.
· Walgreen to buy Duane Reade for $1.1B [Crain's]
· Duane Reade Ups Its Beauty Prestige [Racked NY]
· Flap Over New Duane Reade Logo Continues [Racked NY]