Post AsEPb8SpsdQ8IlcLTd by futurebird@sauropods.win
(DIR) More posts by futurebird@sauropods.win
(DIR) Post #AsDWgDIelpoUWwZ2Se by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-03-19T15:53:35Z
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NYC chain pharmacies have always felt like portals to purgatory, but ever since the lockdown days there has been something wrong with “Duane Rede” on a deeper level. They feel like those stores in Cuba that have no product and no customers but are open for obscure tax reasons or something. It’s really noticeable since they are huge, and always the most run down thing on the block even in the most gentrified hoods.
(DIR) Post #AsDXNOckXlVq6TYNwO by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-03-19T16:01:23Z
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I think they are spending nothing on upkeep— and just letting it all rot.
(DIR) Post #AsDXpmx9gLb1fQdX60 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-03-19T16:06:28Z
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@tshirtman Why have such massive NYC stores in high rent areas? Downsize! No one is shopping in these creepy places.
(DIR) Post #AsDYdf49HSP1gVgmH2 by gpilz@mastodon.social
2025-03-19T16:15:30Z
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@futurebird It's weird that no group of investment bankers has appeared to buy them up, sell off their real estate, and force them to rent it back.
(DIR) Post #AsDaZH9YRhBUGpFoIa by blp@framapiaf.org
2025-03-19T16:37:03Z
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@futurebird It looks like that one is under a construction scaffolding, which is presumably temporary and not under the control of the shop owners. Hard to blame them for being uninviting in that case.
(DIR) Post #AsDaxnsoPMXkjM7Ps0 by naturepoker@genomic.social
2025-03-19T16:41:30Z
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@futurebird sometimes I look at these odd stores and wonder if they're secretly shipping their stock out on Amazon.
(DIR) Post #AsDc7jSnnJn9sEFcX2 by babelcarp@social.tchncs.de
2025-03-19T16:54:32Z
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@futurebird Duane Reade is a subsidiary of Walgreens, which is in such deep trouble that it’s selling itself to a private equity firm.
(DIR) Post #AsDcP2CFOn6itbl3CK by llewelly@sauropods.win
2025-03-19T16:57:40Z
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@futurebird what the heck is going on with that corrugated aluminum roof and those I-beams and that scaffold holding all that crap up?
(DIR) Post #AsDcboYdQ3bkMOK73A by john@sauropods.win
2025-03-19T17:00:01Z
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@llewelly @futurebird It's probably the base of scaffolding on the floors above, right?
(DIR) Post #AsDcsd5dJF8piTmB9M by llewelly@sauropods.win
2025-03-19T17:03:07Z
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@john @futurebird that sounds likely? I guess some kind of construction must be going on up above. But - somehow the scaffolding legs look rather scrawny for the job. But what do I know, never having worked on a scaffold with I-beams.
(DIR) Post #AsDdAUXDr5yEOcCLLM by john@sauropods.win
2025-03-19T17:06:18Z
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@llewelly @futurebird It's probably just maintenance stuff, so not serious construction. The heavy-duty roof wide roof on the first level is so pedestrians don't get a paint-pot on the head.
(DIR) Post #AsDe1uN8WVppsQx3RY by australopithecus@mastodon.social
2025-03-19T17:01:13Z
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@llewelly @futurebird Dunno about this particular case, but similar setups are pretty common in some dense cities when there's minor construction/renovation happening on the building exterior, to shield pedestrians from any accidental/incidental falling debris.
(DIR) Post #AsDe1uy0JRKFimCUuO by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-03-19T17:15:56Z
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@australopithecus @llewelly Yeah the constitution scaffolding isn’t the problem— it’s what’s inside at every store— or rather what is not inside.
(DIR) Post #AsDgVC3a3FIp1ytdRo by Phosphenes@mastodon.social
2025-03-19T17:43:36Z
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@futurebird Or maybe they own the property, and are holding it as a real estate investment?
(DIR) Post #AsDzF4sKskQtFofKfA by earthshaking@mastodon.eternalaugust.com
2025-03-19T21:13:34Z
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@futurebird tax shelter, somehow saves more money keeping it "open" but failing than the store actually would have earned running it properly
(DIR) Post #AsELlQQ2W6YQKRGB2e by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-03-20T01:25:53Z
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@saxbrightwell mmmm I should write a little "chain pharmacy" themed level for the #backrooms wiki. I've never contributed before but this might just motivate me. (But only AFTER I complete "the short story I'm not allowed to talk about until it's done")
(DIR) Post #AsEMQb1ryPAV6maQJU by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-03-20T01:33:25Z
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@blikkie They have had some success with that, but why have such big stores? Why not ... IDK sell things? Or just have a pharmacy window?Most people I know avoid the chains like the plague they are so awful and no one is ever there to answer a question and they are so slow.
(DIR) Post #AsEMkyGlHCX6yiGeNE by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-03-20T01:37:02Z
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@jiub It's just not safe or practical!Especially in NYC. Even with how horrible they are when I've gone in over the past 3 years once or twice there is always a long line. And people getting mad and leaving since the line isn't moving. I tried to buy some allergy medicine once and gave up and went to the bodega. I was worried the bodega might not have allergy medicine but they did, and no line. (They have everything, I don't know how they do that.)
(DIR) Post #AsEMvgQdwoyUpdzuxk by nazokiyoubinbou@urusai.social
2025-03-20T01:37:25Z
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@jiub @futurebird Let me guess: you're not an introvert? 😁 I love when I go in and there's hardly anyone inside there. Especially with COVID-19 and no one wearing a mask. It's much safer and more manageable than bigger stores with hardly anyone around.
(DIR) Post #AsEMvhMmSfTljxCLa4 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-03-20T01:38:58Z
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@nazokiyoubinbou @jiub I'm the biggest introvert, two people just isn't enough to run these stores, they take up a whole city block. They are almost as big as a grocery. And they will have one person in the pharmacy and one at the front. That's not OK.
(DIR) Post #AsEN1lhhFRcevhsMNs by nazokiyoubinbou@urusai.social
2025-03-20T01:40:07Z
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@futurebird @jiub Fair enough. I feel especially sorry for the employee. I don't mind waiting a little and I love it being quiet, but that poor person is usually so badly overworked it's not even funny. (Especially given their pay no doubt.)
(DIR) Post #AsEO6xmYCIpCa4rSSm by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-03-20T01:52:17Z
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@jiub There are lots of shops making lots of money everyday in NYC. Foot traffic is high and people are spending even with the inflation. If you can't make money it seems like a "skill issue" as the kids say.
(DIR) Post #AsEPb8IYUrCHmso8S8 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-03-20T02:08:25Z
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@karabaic @jiub I'm worked up about this because it irks me to see street store space wasted. Lots of people could use that space better. Move out the way.
(DIR) Post #AsEPb8SpsdQ8IlcLTd by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-03-20T02:07:44Z
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@karabaic @jiub Sephora is *mobbed* everyday and it's kind of shocking how much makeup they sell. It's also all some of students will talk about. I don't even think they know that pharmacies have makeup sections. Why would a young person enter such creepy empty, spaces with everything locked up like you are in some kind of automat from a dystopian novel. But not an *exciting* dystopian novel.They are "open" but not trying at all. Not even in their locations near Times Square and Soho!
(DIR) Post #AsEPbNaTeVRhCoJ9yC by karabaic@mastodon.social
2025-03-20T02:03:43Z
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@futurebird @jiub Since Walgreens bought them, and now Walgreens is seeking to go private equity, my guess is that they are playing a game to spin these back out as soon as possible. I called on Walgreens 3 decades ago, when they were committed to serving the urban market. Having a licensed cometologist in each store was a tactic: female-presenting urban workers prioritized the store because it had what they needed to look good at work. Sad what happened.
(DIR) Post #AsEPfP1iF8BOpNxvUW by lydialurch@mastodon.social
2025-03-20T02:05:56Z
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@futurebird My guess? Illegal weed store.
(DIR) Post #AsES8agIrGxRKwbFZI by karabaic@mastodon.social
2025-03-20T02:37:22Z
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@futurebird It is a lost opportunity. Once upon a time, drugstores like Walgreens aimed to be the one-stop neighborhood store on the way to work and the way home, with slightly higher prices/margins on things you might not ordinarily get at a drugstore but would because you didn't want to make multiple stops. Having a friendly professional who could sell you the right shade of eyeshadow was *important*.They completely screwed it up.