In the early 1990’s, R&L Construction, a fledging multi-faceted construction company, was set to “break from the gate,” and shine in the NYC market place. We were proving that significant savings were attainable through “vertical integration” & “fierce client based integrity.” R&L Construction had already built numerous retail stores for The Banana Republic, the GAP Stores and Tourneau.

However, the big break came in 1997. R&L Construction earned a reputation for excellence with the Duane Reade drug store chain having built numerous stores from 1990 through 1997. Duane Reade was impressed with our performance, on time delivery, our passion and attention to detail. R&L Construction was the primary contractor for full build-out of Duane Reade drug stores in the NYC market place. In early 1997, we were approached by Duane Reade senior management and were told that they were going “Public.” In order to fulfill share holders expectations, and look favorably in the light of Wall Street, it would be necessary to saturate the NYC market place with new Duane Reade locations.

Their goal was to construct and open over 150 stores in less than 36 months. R&L Construction rose to the occasion and delivered approximately one store per week for the next 150 weeks. In total, we were responsible for building out 165 Duane Reade stores in approximately 3 years; both meeting and beating client expectations.

Most importantly, the partnership has endured, and we continue to work with Duane Reade, most recently in the capacity of rolling out the LabCorp patient service centers that will provide comprehensive clinical laboratory testing to Duane Reade customers.