An empty beverage case at the CVS on 70th and West End Avenue.
The CVS on West End Avenue and 70th Street pulled all the food off of its shelves after state inspectors found “critical deficiencies” at the store. The racks and beverage cases have been completely bare since at least last Wednesday, shoppers said, and they’ve been getting mixed messages about what caused the change.
An inspection notice posted near the front of the store indicates that inspectors found “critical deficiencies” on November 8. On the back of the notice, the inspector circled several issues, including “insect, rodent, bird or vermin activity likely to result in product contamination.”
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An employee said the store had had an issue submitting paperwork on time and that the food would be back this week. A spokesperson for CVS did not respond to an emailed question.
The real question is: have the medications become contaminated too?
yeah — concerned sick person here…
Shame on them. They lied to me when I questioned why shelves were empty. I was told the shelves were dusty. And the food was temporarily being stored in the basement.
In the basement is the last place they should store anything. This city’s rodent population is out of control.
This store has always seemed poorly run to me. They are often out of products on the shelves, particularly sale items. Even though I live practically across the street from this location I often shop at the CVS at 77th & Broadway as it is better stocked and run.
And I wonder why the self-serve checkout machines at 70th & West End are out of service. The employee could not tell me why.
Re: “And I wonder why the self-serve checkout machines at 70th & West End are out of service. The employee could not tell me why.”
REALLY…is your life that hectic that you cannot wait a few minutes (the lines there are never more than one or two people) to have the checkout PERSON “ring-you-up”?
Shame on anyone using “self-serve checkout machines”, for you are helping the “corporate bean-counters” justify replacing PEOPLE with machines.
Yes, the checkout clerks do not earn a lot, BUT (1) any job is better than no job; and (2) these are usually young ‘people-of-color’ who are building their work resumés for future employment.
Re: “The employee could not tell me why”…the machines are out of service. Well, hopefully the employees sabotaged them, as these machines represent future lay-offs.
Yes, as a matter of fact, my life is too hectic to be standing in line at a convenience store with a slow cashier and clueless customers.
I love the self-service machines. Welcome to 2005.
Jobs are created from designing, making, programming, and maintaining the machines. Just as jobs are created from clean energy…
Wow, get a grip. I just made a comment on the machines not working and I get a political lecture.
By the way, those machines don’t represent future layoffs – they represent folks never hired since the machines were there from the start. By your logic one should never use ATMs, self-serve gas stations, etc. This is 2016, not 1966. The world changes.
Wow! I shop at CVS in another neighborhood and there are no cashiers and ONLY 2 self service check outs. They do however have one young lady who is randomly standing there to assist (with self check out) so I just assumed that’s the way it was at all CVS locations. The last time I went in and I had approx $200 of OTC and the machine wasn’t working and the MANAGER told me that there was no one available to check me out. He couldn’t have cared less that he lost a sale or a customer.
Sheesh, I shouldn’t type when I’m tired. I meant to say that I had over $200 of OTC medications, the machines weren’t working, and there was no one to check me out, lol. I would be more than happy to shop at a CVS that had regular cashiers. 🙂
They lied to me as well. Told me they were “just cleaning.” Looked like kind of a BIG clean to me, but anyway…
In general the store has been having all kinds of problems. Last week the “systems were down” and they closed the store completely. They made anyone with an rx wait outside while they ran in and out and presumably wrote down cc info and brought out meds. It was bizarre.
I was told “we are renewing our food license and remodeling the food shelves” but the employee seemed nervous when I asked and as he responded.
3 times they lied to me. The last time I asked what was going on I was told they were just cleaning for their annual inspection. When I asked if it was a health issue they said no.
The overall experience at these chain drug stores in very depressing . Generally the workers don’t care , the corporations don’t care and it’s a giant corporate slap in the consumers face .
I’d also send these inspectors to any 7-11 in the City . Most of these are nasty and sticky and weird
The 7-11 at 89th and Columbus looks clean to me! Don’t knock them.
90% of what they sell is junk food anyway. Critters are usually too smart to drink Coke.
Once after buying a bag of Smart Food popcorn at a now shuttered bodega I got to the bottom only to discover a rodent had eaten through the bottom of the bag before I got it. Welcome to NYC.
This discussion is refreshing: no one is blaming DiBlasio!
Yes, they lied to everyone, including me. I looked around and saw the inspection report on the glass by the entrance and sent the picture to the west side rag.
Although it would be bad for their business, to outright lie to customers makes it worse! Had they been truthful I most likely would not have taken the picture….
I happen to like this store, but I noticed on a number of occasions that their refrigerators had gone off (and were warm) while there was still food in them. I’m not sure if this had anything to do with the results of this inspection, but it always concerned me.
We really need a supermarket on that corner; CVS is fairly useless. No newspapers and cheap cosmetics that no one buys. They don’t do demographics …they just follow a store formula everywhere. Well it sure isn’t working here. A better plan would have been to leave the Duane Reade open on 72 +WEA and make this CVS into a Morton Williams or some other grocer. But too late now. My whole bldg got flu shots there….hope that’s safe. Scary what their storage facility must look like.
Believe it or not there WAS a supermarket there… a Daitch Shopwell. That was decades ago.
I thought it was an A&P or a Food Emporium.
The Daitch Shopwell was on Broadway between 77th and 78th.
There used to be a supermarket on West End and 70th Street.Also used to be a pleasant neighborhood Italian restaurant.
But torn down for the construction of the luxury building.
This makes sense, I thought the store was going out, how disgusting,vermin etc. They need to clean that store and replace the dirty rugs too. This neighborhood deserves a clean and modern store, they make a fortune at this store. Please write to corporate, I did last year, they didn’t respond.
I like CVS but this no good.
Isn’t that charming?
“An employee said the store had had an issue submitting paperwork on time and that the food would be back this week.”
The same food, presumably, that the inspector’s report says may have been contaminated, and has now been languishing in some basement for a week? Argh….
The drugstores need to leave food marketing to the food stores, who know something about it.
I was in the 200 WEA store over the weekend, and was checked out by a cashier. They always ask “Did you find everything that you were looking for?”, and I said no. The cashier said nothing – I asked, why do you even ask, when you don’t inquire further? Mindless customer service!
Well, I always thought the staff at 200 were much nicer than at the average fast-food/drugstore type places. In fact, just yesterday, I switched my latest prescription to be delivered there, for today! I do miss the older pharmacist at Duane Reade, and 72nd was the only friendly-ish of the DR’s, RA’s, etc. I think CVS city-wide know what they are doing, employee-wise, regarding customer service. I usually use the machines, to give the cashiers a break. Now I am not sure if that is best.
For prescriptions try Joseph Pharmacy at 216 West 72nd.