Major Pharmacy Chain Will Close Or Sell Its 48 Stores In New Hampshire

NEW HAMPSHIRE — A popular pharmacy chain will close or sell its 48 Granite State stores.

Rite Aid this week filed for bankruptcy for the second time in less than two years after a previous restructuring lessened the pharmacy chain's debt but still left it on unsound financial footing.

The company listed liabilities from $1 billion to $10 billion in a Chapter 11 petition filed in New Jersey bankruptcy court. The Philadelphia-based drugstore chain also announced it is seeking a buyer, and said that re-filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection will speed that process.

Rite Aid said most stores would remain open for a few months. All locations will eventually close or be sold to a new owner.

"While we have continued to face financial challenges, intensified by the rapidly evolving retail and healthcare landscapes in which we operate, we are encouraged by meaningful interest from a number of potential national and regional strategic acquirers," CEO Matt Schroeder said in a statement. "As we move forward, our key priorities are ensuring uninterrupted pharmacy services for our customers and preserving jobs for as many associates as possible."

The company plans to sell customer prescription files, inventory and other assets as it closes distribution centers and unloads store locations. Stores will remain open, but the company isn't buying new inventory, so bare shelves will likely become more common.

Rite Aid announced on May 6 it will stop issuing customer rewards points for purchases. Starting next month, it will also no longer honor gift cards or accept returns or exchanges.

Rite Aid is the nation's third-largest pharmacy chain behind CVS and Walgreens. All three have suffered financial difficulties and shuttered hundreds of stores in recent years. Rite Aid had been closing stores and struggling with losses for years before its first bankruptcy filing in 2023.

Rite Aid and its competitors have been dealing with tighter profits on their prescriptions, increased theft, court settlements over opioid prescriptions and customers who are drifting to online shopping and discount retailers. The company operated about 2,000 pharmacies as recently as 2023, but now has only about 1,240 stores as it enters its second bankruptcy.

Rite Aid has 48 stores in the Granite State, including Concord, Exeter, Londonderry, Manchester, Milford, Nashua, North Hampton, Portsmouth, and Salem.

According to the city of Concord online database, the Rite Aid location at 92-94 South St., which the company did not own, was sold to Red Eagle Management of Hooksett in late March for $1.7 million. The seller was the estate of A. Leonard Seeche, a long-time New England real estate manager. He passed away in September 2021. A Connecticut company owns the 165-167 N. State St. location.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.