Duane Reade on Fifth Avenue to close next month

Another large Brooklyn pharmacy is biting the dust.

Duane Reade announced that its Sunset Park store at 5008 Fifth Ave. will close its doors May 21.

Walgreens, which owns Duane Reade, said it plans to close 1,200 stores over the next three years, including 500 stores in 2025.

“While we are making progress against our ambitious turnaround strategy, meaningful value creation will take time, focus and change that is better managed as a private company,” said CEO of Walgreens Boost Alliance Tim Wentworth in March.

David Estrada, executive director of the Sunset Park Fifth Avenue Business Improvement District, said the pharmacy has been part of the community for decades. 

“They were a trusted retailer with good deals and a reliable pharmacy that many neighbors relied on,” he told this paper. “The Sunset Park Business Improvement District is sad to see them go. We also recognize retailers have to make tough decisions in a changing marketplace. We hope people understand that their shopping choices make a huge difference determining if local stores stay open. Shop locally, please.”

He also said that the BID’s territory includes 11 other pharmacies, as well as other stores that sell the same non-pharmaceutical products as Duane Reade. 

“Within a block of the Duane Reade location, we are looking forward to the opening of a DII (“Deals and Discounts”) discount retailer,” he said. “Even the long-vacant Met Foods supermarket at 58th Street is getting a new tenant. So, while we say a sad farewell to some businesses, we take heart in how others are making big investments in Sunset Park.”

Like other neighborhoods, the Southwest Brooklyn area has seen additional pharmacy closures. In October 2021, Walgreens on 7821 Third Ave. closed. Then, in 2022, Rite Aid at 7501 Fifth Ave. shuttered.

In 2023, the Rite Aid chain filed for bankruptcy, although it emerged from Chapter 11 a year later.