Was there another Duane Reade apart from the drugstore?
The popular drug store originally was located in between Duane
Street and Reade Street on Broadway. It took its name from from the
bordering streets. The location still exists today. If you wander
around New York City's downtown area, you'll come to a section on
Broadway, not far from City Hall, edged by two streets: The streets
are Duane Street, and Reade Street. Duane and Reade Street do not
intersect, they are parallel. In answer to your question, the
original Duane Reade pharmacy was located there. The store isn't
named after a real person. The original Duane Reade was one of
three drugstores in downtown Manhattan opened by the Cohen Brothers
in 1959. They called their stores "Thrift" originally, but, with so
many thrift shops around, that was confusing. Their main store was
on Broadway between Duane and Reade, and the Cohens noticed many of
their workers (mostly immigrants who had great trouble pronouncing
"thrift") refer to the main store as "The Duane and Reade shop."
The name stuck. James Duane was mayor of New York City from
(February 6, 1733