PITTSFIELD -- One of the town's two pharmacies will close its doors June 10, referring its customers and transferring their files to local Rite Aid pharmacies. They will do the same at at their other two stores to be closed in Camden and Belfast.

Waltz Pharmacy Inc., which opened in Pittsfield three years ago, will shut down the pharmacies as part of the company's decision to focus more exclusively on an operation that serves only nursing homes, according to Waltz President Dean Jacobs.

"We've seen a tremendous growth in that business and are looking for that to continue," he said. "That's where I've really been focused for the past year now."

Jacobs said prohibitive operating costs, reduction in MaineCare reimbursement rates and a shortage of pharmacists also factored into his decision.

The company will continue operating pharmacies in Damariscotta and Waldoboro, communities close to Jacobs' home. The Home Medical Equipment facility will continue to operate in Camden.

Waltz Pharmacy had owned and operated The Pittsfield Pharmacy for several years, and the town will miss it, Pittsfield Town Manager Kathryn Ruth said.

"It was quite a shock" to hear of the pharmacy's closing," she said.

"Very unfortunate. The pharmacy has many customers in the community and in surrounding communities."