Exhibit 10.1

EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT

EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT (this "Agreement"), dated as of March 13, 2008, by and between Duane
Reade, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the "Company"), and John A. Lederer ("Executive").

WHEREAS,
the Company desires to employ Executive and to enter into an agreement embodying the terms of such employment and considers it to be in its best interests and in the best
interests of its stockholders to employ Executive during the term of this Agreement;

WHEREAS,
Executive desires to accept such employment with the Company and to enter into this Agreement; and

WHEREAS,
Executive is willing to accept employment on the terms hereinafter set forth in this Agreement.

NOW,
THEREFORE, in consideration of the premises and mutual covenants herein and for other good and valuable consideration, the parties hereby agree as follows:

1.Term of Employment.Subject to the provisions of Section 13, this Agreement shall be effective for a
term commencing on the later of (i) the day after the day on which Executive is admitted into the United States in "O" visa classification as an "alien who has extraordinary ability" in
business permitting Executive to be legally employed within the United States and (ii) April 1, 2008 (as applicable, the "Effective Date")
and ending on the fourth (4th) anniversary of the Effective Date (the "Initial Term"); provided,however, that such term shall be automatically extended for successive twelve
(12) month periods (the Initial Term together with any extension shall be referred to hereinafter as the "Employment Term") unless, no later than
ninety (90) days prior to the expiration of the Initial Term or
any extension thereof, either party hereto shall provide written notice to the other party hereto of its or his desire not to extend the term hereof ("Notice of
Nonrenewal"), in which case Executive's employment hereunder shall terminate as of the expiration of the Employment Term unless earlier terminated in accordance with the
provisions of Section 13.

2.Position.



---





3.Base Salary.During the Employment Term, the Company shall pay Executive a base salary (the
"Base Salary") at the annual rate of $900,000.00, payable in regular installments in accordance with the Company's usual payroll practices. The Board
shall annually review Executive's Base Salary and may increase, but not decrease, Executive's Base Salary in its sole discretion based on Executive's performance.

4.Bonus.Commencing in 2008, during the Employment Term, Executive shall be afforded the opportunity to earn a
cash bonus for each fiscal year ending during the Employment Term, contingent upon the Company's achievement (as reasonably determined by the Board or a committee thereof) of certain specified target
earnings (calculated consistently with calculations made for prior periods) before interest, income taxes, depreciation and amortization, and in addition, to the extent the Board acting reasonably and
in good faith so determines, excluding acquisitions, divestitures, refinancings, any change required by GAAP or other extraordinary and nonrecurring events (the "EBITDA
Target") established prior to, or as soon as practicable after, each December 23rd in respect of the fiscal year commencing thereafter, by the Board or a
committee thereof in its discretion (but after consultation with Executive). Such bonus award shall be as follows: (i) 50% of Base Salary upon the Company's attainment of 95% of the EBITDA
Target, and for each whole percentage increase above 95% and through 99% of the EBITDA Target, such amount shall be increased by 10% of Base Salary, (ii) 100% of Base Salary upon the Company's
attainment of 100% of the EBITDA Target, and for each whole percentage increase above 100% and through 104% of the EBITDA Target, such amount shall be increased by 10% of Base Salary, and
(iii) 150% of Base Salary upon the Company's attainment of 105% or greater of the EBITDA Target (the "Annual Bonus"). Unless otherwise determined
by the Board, no Annual Bonus shall be payable in respect of any fiscal year to the extent the Company does not attain at least 95% of the EBITDA Target for such fiscal year. Notwithstanding the
foregoing, the Annual Bonus in respect of the Company's fiscal year ending on or about or close to December 31, 2008 (the "2008 Fiscal Year")
shall be no less than 100% of the portion of Base Salary Executive actually earned during the 2008 fiscal year (the "2008 Annual Bonus Minimum"). The
Annual Bonus shall be paid at the same time as annual bonuses are paid to other senior executives of the Company, which shall be paid on the March 15 next following the close of the fiscal
year; provided that it shall not be a breach of this Agreement if payment is made later in such year to the extent financial results are not available by March 15 so long as payment is made by
payroll as soon as practicable following the certification of such results. Other than as set forth in Section 13 below, Executive must have remained employed with the Company through the close
of the fiscal year in respect of which the Annual Bonus is to be paid and have not given or received a Notice of Termination before the close of the fiscal year in respect of which the Annual Bonus is
paid in order to receive it.

5.Stock Option Grant.On the Effective Date, Executive shall be granted a nonqualified stock option (the
"Option") under the Duane Reade Holdings, Inc. Management Stock Option Plan, effective as of July 30, 2004 (the
"Plan"), to purchase 165,000 shares of the common stock of Holdings, par value $0.01 per share (the "Common
Stock"). The Option shall be granted pursuant to the Stock Option Agreement attached hereto asExhibit A. Executive
acknowledges and agrees that the grant of the Option is conditional upon and subject to Executive becoming a party to the Stockholders Agreement (as defined in the Plan) (the
"Stockholders Agreement").

6.Stock Purchase.Within 90 days following the Effective Date, Executive shall purchase 20,000 shares of
Common Stock at a purchase price of $100.00 per share of Common Stock (the "Executive Investment Purchase") pursuant to the Subscription Agreement
attached hereto asExhibit B(the "Subscription
Agreement"). Executive acknowledges and agrees that the Executive Investment Purchase is conditional upon and subject to Executive becoming a party to the Stockholders
Agreement.

2

---



7.Employee Benefits.Other than as specifically stated in this Agreement, Executive shall be provided with
employee pension and welfare benefits on a comparable basis as such benefits are generally provided by the Company from time to time to the Company's other senior executives.

8.Reimbursement of Business Expenses.During the Employment Term, all reasonable business expenses incurred by
Executive in the performance of his duties hereunder shall be reimbursed by the Company upon receipt of documentation of such expenses in a form reasonably acceptable to the Company, and otherwise in
accordance with the Company's expense reimbursement policies.

9.Vacation.Executive shall be entitled to four (4) weeks annual paid vacation.

10.Car Allowance.Executive shall have the use of a car and driver provided by the Company for business
purposes, in accordance with established Company policy.

11.Relocation.Executive shall be employed at the Company's executive headquarters in New York, New York. In
connection with Executive's relocation from Canada to the greater New York City metropolitan area (including New York, Connecticut and New Jersey) (the "New York
Tri-State Area"), the Company shall reimburse Executive's temporary housing costs and/or lease a residence (selected by Executive) in New York City for Executive's
use during the Employment Term through the earlier of:



During
such period, the Company shall pay up to $10,000 per month to cover temporary housing costs, if applicable, lease rental costs and utilities of Executive's residence. If prior to
the second anniversary of the Effective Date Executive terminates his employment with the Company without Good Reason or the Company terminates Executive's employment for Cause, Executive shall assume
the lease and all obligations relating thereto, or, at Executive's option, reimburse the Company for any costs arising in connection with the breaking of the lease.

In
addition, the following reasonable out-of-pocket costs and expenses shall be reimbursed by the Company in accordance with the Company's expense reimbursement
policies as in effect from time to time. To the extent such reimbursements are taxable as compensation to Executive, the Company shall provide Executive with a gross up payment equal to the amount of
all such taxes in respect of the items set forth below in clauses (i)-(iv), plus any taxes payable in connection with the gross up payment:



3

---





12.Travel Allowance.The Company will provide up to $25,000 per annum to cover the cost of personal travel for
Executive and Executive's immediate family between Canada and the greater New York Tri-State Area.

13.Termination.Notwithstanding any other provision of the Agreement:



4

---





5

---





For
purposes of this Agreement, "Good Reason" shall mean:



6

---





For
purposes of this Agreement, "Present Value" shall mean the present value of future payments discounted at the Company's cost of
borrowing under the revolving debt instrument in effect for the Company at the time of Executive's termination of employment.



7

---





8

---





9

---





10

---





11

---





14.Restrictive Covenants.



12

---





13

---





15.Indemnification.The Company agrees that if Executive is made a party, or is threatened to be made a party,
to any action, suit or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative (a "Proceeding"), by reason of the fact that he is or was a
director, officer or employee of the Company or is or was serving at the request of the Company as a director, officer, member, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture,
trust or other enterprise, including service with respect to employee benefit plans, Executive shall be indemnified and held harmless by the Company to the fullest extent authorized by the Company's
articles of incorporation or bylaws or resolutions of the Board, against all cost, expense, liability and loss (including, without limitation, attorneys' fees, judgments, fines, ERISA excise taxes or
other liabilities or penalties and amounts paid or to be paid in settlement) reasonably incurred or suffered by Executive in connection therewith, and such indemnification shall continue as to
Executive even if he has ceased to be a director, member, employee or agent of the Company or other entity, with respect to acts or omissions which occurred prior to his cessation of employment with
the Company, and shall inure to the benefit of Executive's heirs, executors and administrators. Executive shall promptly be reimbursed for any

14

---



indemnifiable
costs or expenses incurred hereunder, subject to an undertaking by Executive that he shall repay any such reimbursements that Executive is subsequently determined not to be entitled to
indemnification in respect thereof.

16.Miscellaneous.



15

---





16

---





| |  | If to the Company, to:  
| |  | ------------------------
| |  |                         
| |  | with a copy to:         
| |  |                         
| |  | If to the Executive, to:
| |  |                         
| |  | with a copy to:         
| |  |                         
| |  | with a copy to:         
| |  |                         



17

---





IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have duly executed this Agreement as of the day and year first above written.

| | EXECUTIVE                                               
| | --------------------------------------------------------
| | /s/JOHN A. LEDERER                                      
| | John A. Lederer                                         
| |                                                         
| | DUANE READE, INC.                                       
| |                                                         
| | By:                                                     
| | Name: John K. Henry                                     
| | Title: Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Acknowledged
and agreed as to the matters relating to Holdings and the Holdings Board:

DUANE
READE HOLDINGS, INC.
By: /s/JOHN K. HENRY

---

Name:
John K. Henry
Title: Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

18

---



QuickLinks