CVS Or Rite Aid In Carroll Gardens: Which One Do You Prefer?

Long gone are the days of the small neighborhood pharmacies. Here in Carroll Gardens, they closed one after the other over the past fifteen years. Does anyone remember Renaissance Pharmacy? How about Carroll Court Pharmacy at 390 Court Street? More recently, the neighborhood lost Clinton Apothecary on Clinton Street and the short lived Garden Apothecary at 525 Court Street.

As in most other New York City neighborhoods, locally owned pharmacies have been replaced by big chain stores.  Carroll Gardeners have pretty much been reduced to filling their prescriptions and personal care items at CVS at 395 Court Street and Rite Aid at 320 Smith Street.
Yes, CVS and Rite Aid are convenient, but the shopping experience is rather unpleasant. Personally, we avoid CVS as much as possible, mostly because of the damp carpet smell that hits customers the moment they walk in. The Rite Aid, on the other hand, seems to ignore the trash that accumulates in the plaza area in front of the store and accumulates in the empty tree pits.
The self check-out machines at CVS may be a plus for some, others may prefer a real person behind a register like at Rite Aid.,Both chain stores, however, have impossibly long lines throughout the day.

We would love to hear which of the two you prefer and why? Is it location, prices, pharmacy service?
Since these two seem to be the only game in the neighborhood, what improvements could they make to serve Carroll Gardens better?
From 1 to 10, how would you grade each?

Now that Rite Aid and CVS have pushed out all smaller competitors in the neighborhood, there really are not many alternatives except for filling prescriptions or ordering health products online. Perhaps, our voices and collective buying power could be channeled towards improving the service at both these stores?


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Those New Self Service Checkout Counters At CVS: Annoying Or Progress?

The CVS at 395 Court Street has never been my favorite store in the neighborhood. I try to avoid it as much as I can. I know that others here in Carroll Gardens feel the same way. Many regret having lost such privately owned pharmacies like Renaissance, which closed just a few years ago at 331 Court Street. Their personal service just can't be duplicated in a chain store such as CVS.

Recently, CVS has chiseled away at their customer service a bit more by replacing their cashiers with electronic self-service check-out counters. Granted, the cashiers were nothing to write home about, but all too often, those self-service check-outs are out of service. Besides, the savings in wages did not translate into cheaper prices for customers.

My question to you, dear Reader is: how are you liking this new system?

Do you miss the human touch or do you prefer swiping and bagging your own purchases?

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Is CVS ON Court Street Selling Expired Medication?

I recently received a rather disturbing email from a reader, who made me aware of the fact that the CVS Store at 395 Court Street may be selling outdated medication. If that is the case, it is unacceptable and certainly needs to be investigated.

Here is the reader's email:

Hi Katia,

I'm new to the neighborhood and really love it. Your blog has helped

me learn more about the area and I really appreciate the work you are

doing.

I was wondering if you could help me voice a complaint that I have

regarding the CVS on Court. I'm guessing that there are plenty of

people with complaints about the store and I prefer to take my

business to Clinton Apothecary. Unfortunately I had to go to CVS for

something after C.A. was closed and noticed that the hydrocortisone

cream that I bought had expired in 2009 (it also cost 3 times what

C.A. charges!). When I went to return the item I noticed that all but

one of the products had an expiration date of 2009. I looked around

at other products and saw expiration dates on several items. I

notified the people at the pharmacy counter who were not helpful and

the store was a bit chaotic because no one was there and the lines

were backed up due to the new self check-out system that they had just

put in. When I got home I did a little research and saw that in 2008

several chain drug stores, including CVS, had been investigated for

selling expired medications. I have not been able to get through to

anyone at CVS to complain so I'd like to at least get word out to

those that do shop there to check their products before they buy them

or just take your business to a non-chain pharmacy where you will get

better service and better products. I know I will!

Thanks!

I couldn't agree with the reader more. (Does anyone remember the wonderful ladies at Renaissance Pharmacy?)

CVS, like other drugstore chains, has pushed out smaller pharmacies like Renaissance.

The service these big stores provide is mediocre at best. Let us hope that they will take customer concerns seriously and check their shelves on a regular basis so that no outdated medicines get sold.

Has anyone else had a similar experience? Please let me know by emailing me directly at

pardonmeinbrooklyn at gmail dot com or leave a comment below.

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