OSCO Pharmacy and CVS explain closures

GILFORD — On the exterior of the Shaw’s Supermarket, the big orange Osco Pharmacy sign is gone and soon the CVS sign will be gone from the Belknap Mall in Belmont.

There are many other pharmacies in the region, but loyal customers of these two businesses will have to find a new place to have their prescriptions filled.

No decision has been made on what, if anything, will replace the pharmacy in the supermarket.

For now, some Wiffle balls and bats are for sale in front of the shuttered business inside the grocery store. Red signs inform shoppers, “Visit any CVS Pharmacy location to fill your next prescription.”

In smaller type, the signs say, “Your prescription has been confidentially transferred to CVS Pharmacy at 1371 Lakeshore Road, Gilford.”

Teresa Edington, spokeswoman for Shaw’s, said Friday the pharmacy in the company’s supermarket in Londonderry is also closing.

”Like all retailers, we’re constantly evaluating the performance of our pharmacy locations,” said Edington, who is based in West Bridgewater, Massachusetts. 

“Closing a pharmacy is always a tough decision, but we’re focused on growing our business by being the favorite local supermarket, and running great stores where people love to shop. That’s what will enable us to offer the products and services our customers value most in New Hampshire and everywhere else we operate.

“While the decision to close a pharmacy is always difficult — given the impact on employees and customers — it was made only after careful evaluation and was guided by what is best for the company’s ongoing success and future growth.”

The CVS Pharmacy in the Belknap Mall is to close on March 1. Prescription records are being sent to the CVS in Franklin, about nine miles away. Several other businesses at the mall have also been shuttered in recent years.

Amy Thibault, a spokeswoman for CVS who is based in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, said the decision to close the store at the mall in Belmont was a difficult one.

“As part of the regular course of business, we review all of our stores' financial performance before making such a decision,” she said. “The upcoming closure of this store is not a reflection of the hard work and dedication of our employees. In fact, every effort is being made to help place them into comparable roles at other CVS locations nearby.

“We understand the disappointment of our closing store’s neighbors and customers. We remain committed to the Belmont area and we continue to provide the community with outstanding pharmacy service at our other stores in the area.”

CVS, which has 9,900 stores nationwide, closed 46 last year. In an earnings report, the company said it would close “22 underperforming retail pharmacy stores” this year.

“We believe these decisions will generate enhanced longer-term performance,” CVS Chief Financial Officer Eva Boratto said during a quarterly earnings call. “Our real estate footprint remained very productive, and we will look for opportunities to further improve the performance in our portfolio.”

Pharmacies and many other retail stores are facing stiff challenges from online sales.

Last year, Walgreens announced that it would close 200 stores.

The financial data firm Refinitiv reported that e-commerce made up 11.2 percent of total retail in the third quarter of 2019. That figure was up from 4.2 percent in 2010.

The marketing research firm Coresight Research reported that there have been 1,219 store closures this year. Last year there were 9,200 such closures.