Apple is Permanently Closing Three U.S. Stores in June

[MacRumors]

Apple today announced it will be permanently closing three retail stores in the U.S. in June, including Apple Trumbull in Trumbull, Connecticut, Apple North County in Escondido, California, and Apple Towson Town Center in Towson, Maryland.

Apple Towson Town Center in Maryland​

Apple issued the following statement 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. Earlier this year, for example, Banana Republic, Madewell, and Tommy Bahama announced they were leaving Towson Town Center. Last month, the owner of Trumbull Mall defaulted on a $150 million dollar loan and the property is now for sale. The mall now known as Mershops North County was also sold a few years ago amid declining conditions.

Notably, staff at Apple Towson Town Center became Apple's first retail employees in the U.S. to unionize in 2022. They belong to The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Coalition of Organized Retail Employees (IAM CORE).

Apple said employees at the Trumbull and North County stores will continue their roles at nearby Apple Store locations, while employees at the Towson Town Center store will be eligible to apply for open roles at Apple in accordance with the collective bargaining agreement that they signed with Apple as part of their unionization.

All three of the stores are temporarily closed today and re-open tomorrow.

On the other hand, Apple has opened 11 new stores around the world since the start of 2025, including in the U.S. cities of Miami and Detroit. Apple has also remodeled or replaced dozens of stores over the past few years in cities such as Dallas, Pittsburgh, Montréal, and Tokyo, and it plans to open its first stores in Saudi Arabia.

Apple achieved an all-time revenue record last quarter, so these store closures are not indicative of the company's overall performance.

Update: In a statement to MacRumors, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) Union said that it is "outraged" by Apple's decision to close the Towson store, and will be exploring legal options to hold Apple accountable.

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.

Article Link: Apple is Permanently Closing Three U.S. Stores in June

 

[EBone12355]

The North County Mall in Escondido has been dying for a while now, I’m surprised Apple didn’t leave sooner. It lost its major anchor tenants, and Target has moved in. About a quarter of the storefronts are empty.

 

[fenderbass146]

I hate seeing malls die, I really wish someone would figure out how to rehabilitate them into community areas that still have a shopping focus. Some mall areas are doing it by doing more outward and inward facing resturants, stores, and even residential but it's few and far between and many are just in bad areas that couldn't support something like that...I feel like schools would be a easy option too, but I have to imagine many of the buildings arn't worth the upkeep.

 

[ShivneelSingh]

Open more stores in OC, California. There aren’t enough employees to help the amount of customers visiting.

It wasn’t like this before.

 

[emhvoy]

Apple’s EMEA headquarters are in Cork/Ireland but there’s no Apple store in the country.

 

[tenordrum]

The Hunt Valley Town Center just north of the Baltimore Beltway, would be a far better location for Apple than was Towson. It has Wegman's as a huge draw, plus restaurants, shopping, and movie theaters. Nice area, far more upscale than Towson. Alternatively farther south of Charm City, near BWI airport, is the Arundel Mills shopping area, which has a huge draw with their casino close by. It could draw from the I-95/BW Parkway corridor between DC and Baltimore.

 

[firstcitazen]

Open more stores in OC, California. There aren’t enough employees to help the amount of customers visiting.

It wasn’t like this before.

all my favorite CA stores are slammed as well, my local one is a small outlet and they need to double the size.

 

[verniesgarden]

It's honestly shocking we still have 2 stores in St. Louis

 

[AppleWes]

Open more stores in OC, California. There aren’t enough employees to help the amount of customers visiting.

It wasn’t like this before.

I think they're trying with the expanded Irvine Spectrum stand alone store , and now South Coast Plaza bought out 5 to 10 little stores which is changing nearly entire 1st floor of mall Bear street side they're on.

Brea is larger too but feels like that mall will eventually close with the strange apartment housing added on.

I hate seeing malls die, I really wish someone would figure out how to rehabilitate them into community areas that still have a shopping focus.

I agree! Sadly with all the different (cheaper) shopping methods now it doesn't seem like they'll come back.

 

[routine_analyst]

These archaic developers seem to sit on rotting properties until all leases are gone vs ripping half the mall down to build walkable apartments to bring in foot traffic. Irvine Company did it right - surround open aired centers with walkable communities that bring in foot traffic in addition to anchoring these with grocery or Targets - places that constantly get regular shoppers.

 

[mlayer]

This is sad. The Escondido store is the closest to my brother's house since he lives in town. Fashion Valley it is I guess, they usually have more availability there anyway. Oddly enough I bought the M1 Air in gold at this store in November 2020 after the Fashion Valley store ran out of stock.

 

[TacoChowder]

Grew up going to the Towson mall, crazy to think that all that space is emptying out. Wasn't that the first Apple Store to unionize?

 

[Gummiwise]

I miss the malls of yesteryear. They were a great place to shop, hangout, catch a movie, and eat a decently priced meal. Unfortunately, today’s shopping experience has non-competitive prices as compared to online, rowdy teens, petty theft, parking/traffic woes, exorbitantly priced moviegoing experiences, and restaurants that have marched steadily upwards in pricing and steadily downward in quality and portion sizes. Apple stores tend to be an anomaly where they have steady foot traffic but there doesn’t seem to be much attachment to the buying experience with other adjacent stores. Our outdoor mall struggles to keep tenants and has an increasing number of vacancies while Apple still has a line on launch days. Anyone who wants to enjoy a bit of nostalgia should check out Dan Bell’s Dead Mall series on YouTube. It’s a fascinating exploration of what once was the center of the American shopping and entertainment experience.

 

[csi24]

The Hunt Valley Town Center just north of the Baltimore Beltway, would be a far better location for Apple than was Towson. It has Wegman's as a huge draw, plus restaurants, shopping, and movie theaters. Nice area, far more upscale than Towson. Alternatively farther south of Charm City, near BWI airport, is the Arundel Mills shopping area, which has a huge draw with their casino close by. It could draw from the I-95/BW Parkway corridor between DC and Baltimore.

Hunt Valley would be a much much better place for it, IMO. The town center has been a breath of fresh air for the area since it opened. And an Apple store being there would make it even better!

Towson Town Center can definitely be a bit of a pain to get to. And I usually go to the Columbia store, since I like that mall a lot better

 

[thadoggfather]

Notably, employees at Apple Towson Town Center had become Apple's first retail employees in the U.S. to form a union in 2024.

This is bound to make things spicier, whether related or not 😛

 

[AppleWes]

Wasn't that the first Apple Store to unionize?

Answered the question about real reason for closure 😉

Starbucks also tried to pull the union card and found out how quickly stores vanished

 

[EBone12355]

This is sad. The Escondido store is the closest to my brother's house since he lives in town. Fashion Valley it is I guess, they usually have more availability there anyway. Oddly enough I bought the M1 Air in gold at this store in November 2020 after the Fashion Valley store ran out of stock.

UTC is good and as large as the Fashion Valley store.

 

[goldmac2006]

Open more stores in OC, California. There aren’t enough employees to help the amount of customers visiting.

It wasn’t like this before.

They only have Irvine, Brea and south coast plaza. One of them is being remodelled and is in a replacement store for the time being in orange county.

I have a feeling they need to open more in the I.E. as we only have two. You might have seen yesterday’s article about that the Victoria Gardens location is being renovated. It’s getting a temporary store, in the former Children’s place and Athleta clothing store behind the existing building. It frequently gets packed and the other store near it is 30+ minutes away in Temecula and Brea both ways

 

[boswald]

Open more in Florida!

 

[goldmac2006]

UTC is good and as large as the Fashion Valley store.

Carlsbad is receiving a remodel currently too. I hope that one gets expanded and the Victoria Gardens one too. Victoria Gardens is getting the second renovation after its last one 13 years ago

 

[ikramerica]

Live by the union, die by the union.

Other employees keep their jobs, the unionized ones HAVE to apply for new positions because that’s what they demanded and signed onto.

 

[carrrrrlos]

Follow the money as it leaves stateside.

 

[yunshan]

These archaic developers seem to sit on rotting properties until all leases are gone vs ripping half the mall down to build walkable apartments to bring in foot traffic. Irvine Company did it right - surround open aired centers with walkable communities that bring in foot traffic in addition to anchoring these with grocery or Targets - places that constantly get regular shoppers.

Same at Westfield UTC San Diego, the developer have many apartments nearby, and two 23 story high rise apartments at the mall like Palisade UTC, LUX UTC,Jewel at LUX, towers, Irvine company also has many office buildings nearby.

 

[Abydos]

interesting comments, but if you live in the middle of nowhere there is not much to close - say beer and gas at a crossroads

 

[jc1350]

The Towson mall and surrounding area is a sewer of violent crime. I'm surprised anyone with 2 brain cells patrons that place. Unionized or not, you need paying customers to keep the lights on.