DUANE READE INC. /New York, New York NYC Drugstore Chain Gets Back To Business.(THE NEW AMERICA)

Byline: Marilyn Much

On the morning of Sept. 11, Anthony Cuti's flight was about to land in New York when it was suddenly re-routed to Baltimore.

Later he found out the reason: terrorist attacks in Lower Manhattan. Upon hearing the news, Cuti, chief executive of New York-based drugstore chain Duane Reade Inc., grew concerned over how the people at the city's stores were handling the crisis.

Anxious to get back to his home base, he convinced a Baltimore cab driver to make the trip. About five and a half hours later, for a hefty $800 fare, Cuti was back in New York.

What he found when he got there was a company effort to help out. The manager at one store close to the World Trade Center doused evacuees who wandered in with hoses and bottled water. Another store near the site was turned into a triage unit for rescue workers.

Now, two weeks later, Cuti has turned his attention from coping with the human side of the disaster to its impact on his business. Duane Reade has 193 stores, 111 of which are in Manhattan.

It lost one store in the World Trade Center attack, though all employees were safe. It also was forced to close temporarily its 20 outlets below 14th Street. All but two have reopened.