WEST LEBANON — Rite Aid pharmacies in Bethel, Randolph and Newport have joined the list of stores poised to shutter across the country following the company’s May 5 bankruptcy filing.

In Bethel, the pharmacy portion of Rite Aid, located on Route 107, will permanently shutter on June 20, according to an announcement posted to the store’s door. The rest of the store is set to close a week later.

Located in the Bethel Health Center, Rite Aid is the town’s only pharmacy. The next closest pharmacy, Kinney Drugs, is a 15-minute drive away in Randolph.

Gifford Health Care, which leases the space to the drugstore, has received “no communication” from Rite Aid, said Ashley Lincoln, a Gifford spokeswoman.

For now, there is “no specific plan for that space,” she said.

Gifford patients are advised to transfer their prescriptions to a pharmacy of their choosing, Lincoln said.

“We cannot dictate where their prescriptions go,” she said. “It’s a patient choice.”

In addition to serving town residents, the Bethel Rite Aid also serves customers in several neighboring communities without pharmacies of their own.

In Randolph, Rite Aid, in the town’s center, is slated to close on Sunday, according to a store employee.

Kinney Drugs, a local chain with stores in Vermont and New York, will be the town’s remaining drugstore.

The pharmacy portion of the Newport Rite Aid is scheduled to close on Thursday, a store employee said on Monday.

Prescription files will be transferred to the Rite Aid in Claremont, located an 18-minute drive away on Pleasant Street, unless a customer chooses a different drugstore, a store employee said.

“(I’m) kind of bummed out about it,” said Lempster, N.H., resident Chrissandra Gallardo-Moreno said after picking up her prescription on Monday morning.

Gallardo-Moreno has been using the Newport Rite Aid for roughly 15 years. These days, she stops by about once a month to pick up thyroid medication.

“Everybody’s always super friendly,” she said of the pharmacy staff.

Gallardo-Moreno said she will likely transfer her prescription to Sugar River Pharmacy, the independently-owned drugstore located in Newport’s Sugar River Plaza, but she’s “not 100% sure yet.”

“It’s tough to get to know a new pharmacy,” she said.

For the past month or two, about 20 people a day have inquired about switching their prescription to Sugar River Pharmacy, said Thomas Wilmot, who owns the drugstore with his business partner Chad Beane.

“We’re probably going to need some more staffing if it stays like this,” he said.

He hopes to add an additional pharmacist and “one or two” technicians to the drugstore’s staff of seven.

For now, Rite Aid pharmacies in West Lebanon and Windsor are set to stay open, store employees said. The Rite Aid in Windsor, as in Bethel, is the only drugstore in town.

The fate of the Claremont Rite Aid remains unclear. As of Monday morning, there were no signs on the doors regarding a closing date, and employees declined to answer a reporter’s questions.

News of the Upper Valley closings comes as Rite Aid, which operates 1,245 locations, announced the closure of roughly 600 stores nationwide in the midst of the bankruptcy case.

The national drugstore chain first filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2023, citing declining sales and debt accrued from lawsuits alleging the company illegally prescribed painkillers.

CVS Pharmacy is scheduled to assume ownership of 64 Rite Aid stores in Washington, Oregon and Idaho, a May 15 release said. No announcements have been made about acquiring stores in New Hampshire or Vermont.

CVS Pharmacy also agreed to acquire prescription files from 625 Rite Aid stores in 15 undisclosed states across the country, the release said. The acquisition must be approved by the U.S Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey, the release added.

Marion Umpleby can be reached at mumpleby@vnews.com or 603-727-3306.