Why does no one sell tampons in bedstuy?!

Subject: Re: Why does no one sell tampons in bedstuy?!

Carmen wrote: I went to no less than 6 bodegas and a grocery store (the Bravo on bedford) yesterday looking for tampons and NO ONE carried as much as a small travel box. there were always pads ALL OVER the damn place, but not a single crappy generic tampon was anywhere to be found.

WHY IS THIS?! Am I missing something? Was there a PSA about TSS running rampant in the newly gentrified neighborhoods of brooklyn?

I had to take the damn train to walgreens. Am i delirious?

I'm trying to figure out how to phrase this in a way that doesn't sound condescending, but -- did you try looking in a drug store? I don't think I've ever found a good selection of feminine hygiene stuff in supermarkets; drug stores are where I've always gone.

I don't think it's a Bed-Stuy thing, I think it's a supermarket thing.

I always see them behind the counter, every bodega and supermarket. At the bodegas they will be behind the counter, and at the supermarkets they will be behind the counter in their special "health/cold medicine" areas. They may not be on the store shelves with the pads (which also vary from being behind the counter vs. being on regular store shelves).

They sell them in all the discount stores down Fulton St. from Bedford to Nostrand. Conway, Bargain Hunter, Family Dollar, beauty supply stores, Foodtown, the Duane Reade in the Foodtown Plaza, etc.

To the person who said why don't we check pharmacies/drugstores??? It is because there are hardly ANY in Bed Stuy.

Carmen wrote: And ^+1 on that about there being no pharmacies. Is there even a single ONE in that part of the stuy? Its easier for me to take the G to broadway and go to walgreens than wander around to every bodega within 15 blocks

Ah, that it'd make that difficult; my bad.

whoever said check behind the counters is right. That's where they always are in the bodegas. Don't know why, but you can find them in between rolling papers and the Nyquil

isnt there a duane reade in the restoration mall on fulton and ny aves? quite a trek but worth it.that is what is missing in bed stuy and clinton hill.

There's a family-owned drugstore on Myrtle near Spencer Street.

good pitas could be found at fulton and nostrand at the hallal store forgot the name

The Changeling wrote: Thanks, Dolce. I hadn't gone to Fulton 'cause sometimes it just seems soooo far away. If they've got good pitas down there though, I may just have to start visiting Fulton more often.

:shock: How did we get from tampons to pitas? Surely no one's suggesting using one in place of the other....

(No, I get it, it was just a very weird disconnect at first.)

Yeah, anything that lots of people need or wants (condoms, chocolate bars, the cash register) is behind the counter (And maybe behind bullet-proof glass).

In a similar vein, I have a small mystery on my hands...I visited 3 pharmacies along fulton and Greene avenues near Ft Greene and Clinton Hill, looking for baby formula. One gave me a flat, if incurious, 'no'. Another claimed there's not much demand for it. A third actually told me in a locally-wise way, 'have you ever tried to buy baby formula around this area? No, of course we don't have it.' I'm still parsing this, and will ask her to explain in more detail next time I'm there. Does anyone else have an idea as to why it might be apparent to a long-time local that small pharmacies in the area wouldn't carry formula? (Powder or liquid, didn't matter.)

Just curious if anyone had some insight.

Thanks!


j.b.

Prospect Drugs (vanderbilt and greene) was actually the place where they all but laughed at me for asking...

Baby formula can be found in any of the local FG and CH grocery stores. Met Foods on Fulton for example... Liquid and powder.

There's a place around Cambridge Place, near the post office, on Fulton. It's strictly a small-footprint mom-and-pop place but it does have a pharmacy. The selection's not great, but they're nice peeps.

j.b. wrote: In a similar vein, I have a small mystery on my hands...I visited 3 pharmacies along fulton and Greene avenues near Ft Greene and Clinton Hill, looking for baby formula. One gave me a flat, if incurious, 'no'. Another claimed there's not much demand for it. A third actually told me in a locally-wise way, 'have you ever tried to buy baby formula around this area? No, of course we don't have it.' I'm still parsing this, and will ask her to explain in more detail next time I'm there. Does anyone else have an idea as to why it might be apparent to a long-time local that small pharmacies in the area wouldn't carry formula? (Powder or liquid, didn't matter.)

Just curious if anyone had some insight.

As a formula-buying mom to a 9-week old, I suspect this is a theft issue combined with a space issue (the sheer number of brands and types within each brand.) Given that a 25oz can of the most popular style of Enfamil powdered formula costs $26-28, I can see why a lot of small drug stores I've visited either keep them behind the counter, within view of the pharmacy/register or simply don't carry formula at all. Theft City.