Duane Reade "at Significant Risk of Default"?

In the Wall Street Journal's article about expected post-holiday bankruptcy filings from retailers, ubiquitous NYC drug (and lots of other stuff) store Duane Reade might be on that list! "According to Standard & Poor's, nine U.S. retailers and restaurants, including off-price apparel chain Loehmann's Holdings Inc., drugstore operator Duane Reade Holdings Inc. and jeweler Finlay Enterprises Inc. are at significant risk of default, with junk-bond ratings of CCC, or 'very weak.'" But a DR spokesman told the WSJ the chain is "a vibrant and viable retail operation, and any suggestion to the contrary is inaccurate." He also cited "positive trends" at 1+ year old stores, pointed to nearly $70 million in available credit and said there were "no liquidity issues." A 2005 New York magazine article had noted that in 2004, "the company’s profit margin hovered around 1 percent, about a third of what national chains take home," which is good for New York but nothing to copy.