Apple today announced it will permanently close three retail locations in the U.S. in June. The soon to be shuttered stores include Apple Trumbull in Trumbull, Connecticut, Apple North County in Escondido, California, and Apple Towson Town Center in Towson, Maryland.
An Apple spokesperson said to MacRumors:
At Apple, we are constantly striving to deliver exceptional service and great experiences for our customers. As we continue investing to expand and enhance our retail stores and offerings worldwide, we remain deliberate about evaluating our existing locations to ensure that we can meet our customers’ needs in the best way. Following the departure of several retailers and declining conditions at Trumbull Mall, the Shops at North County, and Towson Town Center, we’ve made the difficult decision to close our stores at these locations.
Our team members at Trumbull and North County will continue their roles at nearby Apple Retail stores. Towson employees will be eligible to apply for open roles at Apple in accordance with the collective bargaining agreement.We look forward to continuing to serve customers at nearby stores and on Apple.com, the Apple Store app, and at Apple Authorized Resellers and Service Providers throughout the states.
All three of the stores are located in struggling shopping malls that have lost dozens of major retailers combined.
It should be noted that the staff at the Apple Towson Town Center location became the first Apple’s retail employees in the U.S. to unionize back in in 2022. They belong to The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Coalition of Organized Retail Employees (IAM CORE).
IAM provided the following comments:
“The IAM Union is outraged by Apple’s decision to close its Towson, Md., store—the first unionized Apple retail location in the United States—and abandon both its workers and a community that relies on it for critical services and its unique access to public transit. Apple’s claim that the collective bargaining agreement prevents relocation is simply false and raises serious concerns that this closure is a cynical attempt to bust the union. We are exploring all legal options and will work with elected officials and allies to hold Apple accountable. We stand with our IAM Coalition of Organized Retail Employees (IAM CORE) members and the community that depends on this store for essential access and support.”
Apple said employees at the Trumbull and North County stores will move to nearby Apple Store locations. Meanwhile, Towson employees will be eligible to apply for open roles at Apple in accordance with the collective bargaining agreement.
All three of the stores are temporarily closed today and will re-open on Friday.
