Here’s the scoop on Wayne Avenue’s new Upscale Rx Crescent Cafe. Yes, you can buy toothpaste there. Yes, the hot chocolate rocks. No, you can’t get your double espresso with a shot of Ritalin.
The combination drug store/coffee shop, which opened last week at The Crescent condominium, offers a modest selection of pastries, toiletries and prescription drugs. Fresh pain au chocolat, aspirin, tampons, packaged cookies. And if you’ve got a doctor’s note, Zoloft.
Frosted glass panes separate the two retail elements, though the sign outside — “Upscale Rx Crescent Cafe” — suggests some synergy. In fact, the pharmacist also owns the sleek coffee shop. When his assistant isn’t taking prescription orders at the pharmacy, he’s behind the coffee bar pumping some damned good hot chocolate.
Expanding the drug store to occupy the entire retail space wouldn’t have been profitable, the pharmacist explained to The Penguin. And only time would tell if the cafe would cannibalize the pharmacy space.
However, the pharmacist indicated that integrating the two elements would only go so far. No lattes sprinkled with Xanax. No morning blend with an Ambien twist.
At least his pharmacy assistant/barista had a good laugh.
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Nah, I like a watering hole/drug peddling concept. I can bring my prescription to the pharmacy, pick up the Vicodin and wash down a few pills with a pint of Harp and a shot of Jack all in one spot. You need a stiff drink because of those sky-high drug prices anyway.
Some enterprising fellow should explore this concept.
Good suggestion, IHY. However, the county requires places like restaurants to make half their revenue through food sales if they want liquor licenses.
I would guess an oxycontin-to-beer ratio would also apply.
Maybe they should just be like the Korova Milk Bar in “A Clockwork Orange” and spike their shakes with pharmaceuticals. Could be very choodesny, my brothers and sisters.
I fancy a place with lovely devotchkas while I have a pint with my droogies.
Editor’s note: Sounds like you’ve had enough, IHY. :-) — JD (Nov 6, 2007)
STAY AWAY FROM UPSCALE PHARMACY!!!! I was assaulted by the guy who runs the pharmacy. He apparently thought I had shoplifted abox of tampons from there and followed me into Whole Foods across the street. He told me to produce the tampons, at which point I told him I hadn’t taken them and insisted that we return to his store where I could show him the box and the contents of my purse. Even after returning to the store and emptying my bag and discoverng the tampons on the shelf, he still insisted that I had taken them. It was at this point that I noticed that he had cameras in the shop and told him to show me the video of me shoplifting, which he claimed to have. It was at this point thathe led me to look at the monitor in the area where prescriptions are filled. It was at this point that it dawned on him that he may not be sure of his allegations and pushed me out the way, hitting my face and breaking my nail in half.
Editor’s note: And it’s at this point that I must say, “The above claim has not been verified.” — JD (Aug 5, 2009)
The guy running Upscale Pharmacy is definitely unprofessional and strange. I went in to ask about whether he could fill a prescription for me, and he literally interrogated me with personal, privacy-invading questions about why I was looking to get the prescription. He then proceeded to lecture me on how other countries have “more experience” with that medication and I should just go there to get it filled. Does he want our business or not?