Rite Aid customers can expect their local store to close or change ownership in the next few months as the struggling drugstore chain goes through another bankruptcy filing. 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 for now, but the company isn't buying new inventory so bare shelves may become more common. The company says it runs 1,245 stores in 15 states. It has a heavy presence in New York, Pennsylvania and California, which alone has 347 locations. It announced the bankruptcy filing on Monday.

Urban and rural communities have come to depend on pharmacies as a trusted care option and a place for advice. But CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid and independent pharmacies all are pulling back after waves of growth before the pandemic. An Associated Press analysis of state pharmacy licenses, data from the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs and the American Community Survey shows urban neighborhoods that are majority Black and Latino have fewer pharmacies per capita than white majority neighborhoods. The AP's analysis also found Alaska, Oregon and New Mexico were among states with the fewest retail pharmacies per capita.