Impossible is a typoRunning my pants off and loving myself along the way

The past three weeks have kind of been like this…

Pump water, haul trash, FEMA guy, still pumping, plumber, clean, spill bleach, haul trash, plumber, plumber, roof guy, more bleach, waiting for insurance guy, more trash and then more trash, wait for gas, still waiting for insurance guy, wait for groceries, wait some more for gas, FEMA girl this time, plumber again and again, YAY hot water! debate the need of an electrician, more never-ending bleach, still waiting for insurance guy, trash again, all while trying to work, help the neighbors and you know, like survive living through SuperStorm Sandy’s 3 feet of water in the house, no power for 6 days and no heat for, gosh I lost count… 3 weeks?

So when offered a little retail therapy at one of my favorite shopping spots, I jumped, double time, and dragged Lil Sis along for the ride.

My un-ending love for Duane Reade is pretty legendary. Lil Sis would undoubtedly agree with me. You really can’t be a NYer and NOT shop Duane Reade at least once a week. They are literally on every block after all.

Now, I shop Duane Reade in one of two modes: 1. Leisurely strolling down the aisles, reading every product description, slipping completely frivolous items in my basket; or 2. Super Duper Power Shopping with lists, alternatives lists, price comparisons and coupons.

See, I’m not really a power shopper. I don’t usually flip through circulars and price match and compare and drive all over town to save 6 cents on frozen broccoli. Duane Reade is a little different for me because of the Balance Rewards points. It’s kind of like a game – How many points can you get in one trip?? You can get most of what you need and want at Duane Reade so why not take advantage of offers when you can? I’m in there so often, that I can wait for certain items to go on sale or have extra bonus points associated with the purchase.

So, to prepare, off to DuaneReade.com I went and scanned the online version of the Happy and Healthy circular.

I immediately zeroed in on a few things…

I’m not really a power shopper, and I’m not really a green, eco-product fan either. But let me tell you, after cleaning out a flooded basement with bleachy chemical nonsense leaving my hands cracked and bleeding, yeah, I think it’s about time to look at less chemically chemicals. This new Ology line looks really promising.

And then… I stumbled upon this…

Holy Curling Iron Batman. I’m a little (nutty, obsessed, crazed) particular about my hair care products. I’ll cut to the chase because I could go for HOURS about this… but… most commercial shampoo and conditioner are terrible for naturally curly hair because of silicone and sulfates. Silicone is in most conditioners and is great for silky smooth hair, but it is TERRIBLE for curly hair. Basically, silicone coats your hair in plastic depriving it of the extra moisture curly hair needs. And since it’s basically a plastic, you need a detergent to remove the silicone from your hair. Yup, that’s right, I said DETERGENT. Go compare your favorite shampoo to your dish washing soap and the ingredients are alarmingly similar. And detergents strip everything from your hair, dirt, silicone, natural oils and hair color. Silicone and sulfates are bad bad things for your hair. ANYHOO, I get all gleeful anytime I find a new healthy shampoo to try out.

DuaneReade.com has this super handy feature where you can create a shopping list as you browse and print it before you go. So I had my list, my Balance Reward card and a game plan – The game is purchase at least $20 of private name brands at Duane Reade and get an extra 3,000 points. BOOYAY!

I met Lil Sis at the Duane Reade at 52nd and Broadway.

I was strategic, she strolled.

 

Right off the bat, I met a few obstacles. No, I’m not talking about the items on my list, like Hershey’s Kisses to try out the cookie recipe in the Health and Happy flyer, that were no where to be found (One tiny problem with urban shopping, stock isn’t endless, so things do sell out). Nope, I found myself in a battle of NEED vs. Want.

You see, I NEED conditioner and tea and tissues. 3 weeks with dealing with post-Sandy nonsense meant I didn’t do a lot of shopping and my essential supplies were low. But I WANTED nail polish and fancy makeup. STICK TO THE LIST.

One thing that was not on the list that did make it’s way into the cart was pudding. Yeah, I know, I have a weakness for Pudding. Duane Reade carries several private label brands of super tasty treats like Delish and Nice and it takes everything I have not to walk out with a bag of chocolate covered almonds every.time.I.shop. Lil Sis and I had never seen the pudding before so we snapped that up quick.

I also discovered the Delish line of teas (Which were the Happy and Healthy Special of the week!). I think I used every last tea bag in the house. With no heat, curling up before bed with a “cuppa” after cleaning up all day was a nice reward.

One of the things I adore about the new, redone, super spiffy Duane Reads is how roomy they feel. Most shopping experiences in NYC are crowded and oddly dark.

So what did I end up with? Not a bad shopping trip, eh?

And I totally won the Balance Reward Point Game!

Duane Reade is doing some pretty fun social media stuff too. They have FourSquare QR Codes that you can use to check in and get special offers. The only codes I saw were in the basement and they didn’t work for me while I was in the store, but I’d be very interested to try it out the next time I’m in the store.

Go find Duane Reade on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube will ya?

To see more pics of my shopping adventure, check out my Google+ story!

I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™. #CBias #SocialFabric and #cbBigapple. All opinions are my own.

 

FatGirl Says: Oh Duane, you really get me. You really get my needs, my wants, that little thing that will just make my day better. You’re there for me when I have the sniffles. You make me feel pretty. You have chocolate for every holiday known under the sun and you have chocolate just “because”. And it’s like you’re there like 24/7, always open and available. Le sigh.

I have a secret love affair with Duane Reade Drug Stores. This affair started for two reasons. Years ago, Chase Bank put an ATM machine in every Duane Reade in the City. If you’re a Chase customer, that pretty much means there’s a fee-free ATM about every 50 feet or so, either in a Duane Reade or in a Chase Bank. One of my biggest pet peeves in life that you have to pay to have access to your hard-earned cash. When Duane Reade and Chase teamed up, that meant I was seeing red about my green with much less frequency.

The second reason that I came to love Duane Reade is that I’m pathologically early for things. You see, I’ve spent far too much time in Japan and it has some lingering side effects like the inability to give an unambiguous no and being on time to the point of obsession and driving everyone in my life flippin’ nuts because I simple can’t be late so I’m always early. Since I don’t actually want to drive everyone in my life flippin’ nuts AND I’m pathologically early for things, I developed the coping mechanism of wandering Duane Reade endlessly. There are like 6 billion Duane Reades in NYC (OK, like 250+ stores but really, considering Manhattan is only 22.7 square miles, that’s like, oh help me out with the math here, 10 or so Duane Reades per square mile?), you can always find a Duane Reade to pop into to kill some time. I could hit a coffee shop to kill time, but then you’re sitting there staring at your coffee with nothing to do, so you need to go to Duane Reade anyway to get a Cosmo and take the Sex Quiz to bide the time. And we all know that there will be no popping into the Gap or some fancy pants boutique with my Crazy Inner FatGirl’s illogical fear of retail sales girls. It is impossible to think you’re too fat for hair gel. And besides, there’s ALWAYS something you need, Febreeze, tissues, chocolate, mascara, so while you’re trying not to drive people flippin’ nuts, get your errands done.

Duane Reade started a re-branding project in about 2005 or so, and it went way beyond developing a fancy new logo. They really began to shift what’s possible for a local drug store. When you think “drug store” you think, well, drugs. Yeah, you can get your drugs in the pharmacy and all the over-the-counter-make-me-feel-better-right-this-very-second stuff like Mucinex and Advil, as well as your hair care products, last minute cheesy gifts, a few cleaning supplies, all the little necessities and niceties of life. But Duane Reade really saw the opportunity to provide something more for their customers and the communities they’re in. Duane Reade now offers flu shots, select locations have “Doctor on Premises” where you can get immediate and affordable health care for minor complaints like colds and boo-boos with no appointments – a huge service in an era where health care is pricey and frustrating and actually kind of hard to come by in NYC with hospitals closing. The pharmacy will text message you when your prescription is ready to be picked up and they even offer language assistance, so that you can really be taken care of. You may have never been sick in a place where you don’t speak the language, but let me tell you, there is nothing more stressful and terrifying than trying to buy medicine in a foreign language. You don’t know if this package is going to cure your hemorrhoids or remove unwanted hair.

Then there is the LOOK Boutique.

Imagine walking into your local drug store and being able to sample the newest OPI nail color, or THE anti-aging face cream wonder that all the magazines are featuring. The LOOK Boutique goes beyond your everyday CoverGirl cosmetics and introduces you to beauty lines that are 100% vegan and natural, and I can’t even begin to ooo and ahh enough about the different lines they carry. But they’ve taken that even further. Most LOOK Boutiques are staffed by people who actually know what they’re talking about and will help you find something new and fun to try. Then they took this to the next level when the 40 Wall store opened. Right in the drug store, you can get your hair blown out, your nails done, sample over 40 different perfumes and they have a virtual make-over kiosk. When you’ve worked all day and you have a big date, pop in, spruce up and not drop a load of cash. Freakin Brilliant.

But the thing I want to really talk about is food. Naturally.

With this re-branding project, Duane Reade is altering the way you can shop for food and eat in NYC. If you don’t live in NYC, here’s a little known fact – supermarkets are few and far between. It is not possible to drive up to a mega supermarket, fill your cart with a months worth of food and head on home. Grocery stores in NYC are tiny, cramped and severely limited in the quality and quantity of goods they offer. There are entire neighborhoods that lack a grocery store of any sort. This means that you do a lot of your food shopping at the corner deli where quantity and quality is even more limited and you would cry over the prices, or you lug your groceries for miles on public transportation. Don’t even get me started on the lack of fruits and vegetables, organic food and basic healthy eating needs. Duane Reade already has a vast presence in NYC. They started bringing in quality pre-made food, like sandwiches and salads. Then they started to expand into basic grocery needs. This addition alone can literally alter the health and well-being of entire communities.

My business partner at Ginger Snap Works and I were invited to attend the opening of a new Duane Reade on Broadway and 52nd Street by Collective Bias, a social media and blogger engagement agency, who is working on some social media projects with Duane Reade.

They kicked off the press event by donating $350,000 to Susan G. Komen. I was kind of hoping to see one of those giant checks like they give to lottery winners. I guess that’s a little tacky these days huh? And well, when you’re talking about over a quarter million dollars, no need to be obvious about it.

And Antoine was there with his jet pack of coffee, so all around, it was an excellent morning.

I could gush for a while about how pretty and spacious the store is, but I really want to talk about the food. The entire upstairs is food and there is a grocery section down stairs. And bestill my little FitGirl heart – there’s some good healthy stuff here. I mean, just check out the yogurt section.

What drug store do you know that has a fresh produce section?

OK, the fresh produce is next to the light bulbs and dog food and that’s a bit freaky but I can work with it. And will you look at that, there’s fresh fruit within 5 steps of the entrance. Bananas, apples and oranges are actually the first product you encounter when you walk in the store.

Now hold on to your Points Tracker, because this is what is really amazing. At the B’Way store, yeah yeah, sure you can get cleaning supplies, magazines, cold medicine, and your usual drinks and snacks and treats. And OK, they upped the game with fresh food and bananas and even beer…

The whole first floor is a food market. And I’m not talking day old muffins and Cheetos.

A machine that dispenses slushy drinks;

Self-serve Frozen Yogurt with toppings (peach is to die for!);

A sushi bar. Yes, a real live human being stands right there and makes sushi for you;

There’s a fridge case with about oh 8 dozen different kinds of salads and sandwiches;

A fresh juice bar;

Then you circle around and find gourmet breads and holy freaking cow Fat Witch Brownies next to a machine that dispenses a variety of coffees and…

wait for it…

AN OATMEAL VENDING MACHINE.

Yes, that’s right, you put a cup under the spout and press a button and out comes oatmeal. OK, fine, it’s instant oatmeal and I’m kind of an oatmeal snob but I had a cup. It was $1.99, a wee hint of sweetness, not mushy or soupy at all like instant oatmeal and way way less sweet, and to be honest, it’s better than Starbucks oatmeal.

I’m sure I’m missing a dozen things that are new and exciting in this store as I was a wee bit distracted by the food options. This ain’t a Fat Girl blog for no reason after all!. OH! And my inner Fit Girl will break a proverbial knee cap if I don’t plug the single best thing in Duane Reade…

And FitGirl says: You’re out and about in the City, dashing to a yoga class or coming home after a run, you must re-fuel and get a healthy snack in you! Skip the candy aisle and those protein bars that have more sugar than soda, and pick up this DELICOUS “Delish Chick Pea Salad”. It’s about a half-cup portion and NOT dripping in oily dressing – The perfect protein pick-me-up!

My two general complaints about Duane Reade –  I’ve never found the staff to be overly friendly. They’re helpful, no doubt,  if you ask for help. I had some interactions with a store manager once who simply kicked butt. He couldn’t solve my problem but was awesome anyway. It’s not like the staff is rude or aything and I get it blows working check out in retail sometimes, but the staff have never given me the warm fuzzies either. My second complaint is that Duane Reade can be pricy. Not over priced, but they are generally at the higher end of price point fluctuations. They do have really great sales tho if you keep your eye out on their bulletin and sign up for Flex Reward card. If you must have your favorite shampoo right this second and it’s not on sale that week, expect to pay in the higher price range for it.

I’ve been a customer and a fan of Duane Reade for years. As I’m growing and building this healthy life style for myself, it’s really phenomenal that a company and a brand I am already a fan of is growing in that same direction with me. I know that I can be on the go in the City and that Duane Reade makes it really easy for me to support the decisions that are important to me around my well being.

Please Note: After the tour I received a gift card as a thank you. I’m participating in this Duane Reade Campaign #DReade as a member of Collective Bias. #CBias. No other compensation was received. Views expressed are always 100% my own.