Consumers can't hang out and drink on the premises. But the beer bar -- featuring nine local, craft and imported beers -- allows tastings and sells growlers, dark glass bottles popular in the 19th century as a way to carry draft beer home after work. Growlers have reclaimed some popularity after Whole Foods and some local bars recently began to offer them, according to an article in The New York Times. And as long as the growlers are sealed in the store, Duane Reade does not need any additional licenses.
Behind a bar, a sizeable walk-in refrigerator stocks some well-known national brands as well as local, craft and imported beers, such as Chimay and Porkslap.
The Times article noted that Duane Reade, bought by Walgreens last spring, has attempted to cater to locals in other neighborhoods. It sells cut flowers for some residential areas of Midtown East in Manhattan. More items from Goya are sold in heavily Hispanic neighborhoods in the Bronx. Sandwiches and other fast lunches are more widely available at stores near Penn Station and the Port Authority.
"With each of our newer stores, we're trying to find what works in our community," Paul Tiberio, senior vice president for merchandising and marketing at Duane Reade, told the Times. In Williamsburg, bloggers and Facebook groups had rallied against the pending arrival that landed across the street from the mom-and-pop Kings Pharmacy.
"The opposition was coming from blogs, but it was more the concept of Duane Reade or what they thought Duane Reade was going to be here," said Paul Clark, Duane Reade's vice president for marketing.
Selling a wide selection of beer, along with groceries, enabled Duane Reade to fill a need rather than just propose a threat.
"Kings is a great pharmacy -- the void we saw is there's no food and no beer selection," Mr. Tiberio told the Times.
"I think as big chains go, they're doing they're best," one resident told CBS New York. "It's good to try to notice what the neighborhood wants and if they can do it, it would make me more interested in shopping there."