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

[kinless]

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.

Don't forget the one at the Shops in Mission Viejo, CA. Just went there a few days ago to get my iPhone battery replaced. Crazy busy even in the middle of a workday.

 

[digitalrampage]

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 an easy option too, but I have to imagine many of the buildings arn't worth the upkeep.

Malls rely on a few anchor tenants and lots of small businesses.
The problem is so many large businesses and manufacturers got so greedy directly selling to people online to cut out the middle man, none of the small businesses can compete.

Ultimately people will prefer to jump on Amazon or go to a huge multinational and get it instantaneously rather than buying from local Mom and pop businesses that support local communities.

 

[PSCConMP]

Apple should close the stores in our area. The service is pathetic in both of them. Neither of them had "exceptional service".

 

[goldmac2006]

Don't forget the one at the Shops in Mission Viejo, CA. Just went there a few days ago to get my iPhone battery replaced. Crazy busy even in the middle of a workday.

Oh, yeah, Mission Viejo is part of Orange County too! I’ve never been to these locations before, but it’s surprising how packed the Orange County ones are, even though they have more locations than the Inland Empire (Riverside and San Bernardino counties combined).

The temporary store in Victoria Gardens that’s moving to there next week is literally smaller than the South Coast Plaza temporary store. I did a reverse search on the address and found an Athleta store there, which permanently closed last year. The pictures of the temporary store before it is taken over by Apple in Rancho Cucamonga look quite small on the inside compared to the actual store that’s going to be remodeled. I’ve been a regular going there for 10 years, and now it’s finally getting to be remodeled again!

But agreeable, at least they need to open a store in riverside or somewhere nice like chino hills- these have spaces for it

 

[fenderbass146]

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

Yup, I'm part of problem...

 

[goldmac2006]

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 saw those pictures and I feel it should be updated on the south coast plaza one with a tip.

Victoria Gardens may be the same thing too. The store isn’t as wide and big as brea and south coast plaza but it’s often very crowded on Sundays and some weekdays. I’m hoping they expand it in the next renovation this summer

 

[now i see it]

Man- their PR spokesperson just upchucked the most classic Applespeak ever.

 

[CheffyDude]

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.

I live in Hunt Valley and cannot agree more.

 

[switz]

The commentary here is interesting. A segment of our society is so flush with cash (or high limit credit cards) that our softening economy has not fazed the urge to purchase non-necessities for life. Apple shareholders thank you for spending like there is no tomorrow.....

 

[jc1350]

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.

Sadly Arundel Mills is another high-crime mall. Marketing might have you think otherwise, but it's not a good mall with regard to safety.

 

[thenightfly42]

This was the only reason I had left for going to the Trumbull Mall.

 

[Westside guy]

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.

Malls are basically a relic of the pre-internet era. It made sense back then, because if you just wanted to look at lots of different random stuff, it required moving around physically - and the mall was the most convenient way to do that in a short period of time. But nowadays the web exists.

 

[Kelly the Dude]

Notably, staff at Apple Towson Town Center became Apple's first retail employees in the U.S. to unionize in 2024. 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.

There's a lede for another article to pick up in there.

 

[goldmac2006]

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.

I seen in 2023 they closed down north lake mall due to shootings almost every month.

That one a lot of customers don’t feel safe in getting to the mall anymore because of these crimes and violent things happening. I can’t imagine

 

[goldmac2006]

Malls are basically a relic of the pre-internet era. It made sense back then, because if you just wanted to look at lots of different random stuff, it required moving around physically - and the mall was the most convenient way to do that in a short period of time. But nowadays the web exists.

Too many people online shop, and Covid restrictions in 2020 people did more digital orders and services for everything while the economy was down

 

[bbeagle]

Ultimately people will prefer to jump on Amazon or go to a huge multinational and get it instantaneously rather than buying from local Mom and pop businesses that support local communities.

It's not that I 'prefer' to jump on Amazon - the local Mom and Pop businesses have forced me to.

I've tried for YEARS to go to a local mom and pop store for books, toys, pet supplies, pool supplies, tools, food, anything. And very rarely do they have what I need in stock. 'We'll order it for you, and it will be in next week!'. Or, I could go to Amazon and get it tomorrow for a cheaper price.

So for all the 90 minute trips I've taken to stores and back - to come home with nothing.... this has made me not want to try anymore. I'll just login to Amazon and get what I need cheaper and quicker.

I tried Christmas shopping like this for the past 5 years (every year since 2020). And it's just not worth it. If I go to the mall, there will be these people in the middle trying to sell me stuff I don't need like nail polishers or flying RC helicopters. So I've given up, and next Christmas, I will just visit Amazon - and online retailers.

 

[3xBoom]

Does Apple even need Stores in their current implementation? I have not been excited about visiting an Apple Store for over a decade if not longer (have been an Apple customer since 1988). Most of their third party stuff is ridiculously overpriced anyways. You can buy all of their lineup online and not necessarily from Apple. Repairs is the only draw but does it justify the capital required to run these stores. Perhaps these stores make sense from the marketing perspective but then they should be in absolutely coveted areas of major hubs not in malls, which are quickly becoming a thing of the past anyways, only hurting the brand. What Apple should do is restart their efforts to provide their best support possible for small boutique Apple-focused repair shops instead of suffocating them with costs and competition from Apple itself. I might be wrong in my assessment but I feel that the issue is not just store locations alone.

 

[lovehateapple]

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.

100% agree. Unions might benefit their members in the short term, but (almost) always kill their host over the long term. The only unions that don't are public sector unions, because it's more difficult, but not impossible, for governments to go out of business.

 

[jc1350]

There are many things I would rather buy from a store (mall or stand-alone) over on-line. You can't get a feel for build quality from a photo for example. And that's even if the photo truly matches the product. Online reviews can be suspect with fake reviews from bots and fake accounts propping up the seller/item and sadly from the last 10 years, bad reviews simply due to unrelated politics.

 

[goldmac2006]

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.

Also bro we should tip MacRumors to update the store remodelling updates for Victoria gardens and south coast plaza given you have sent in pics of the south coast one. Once I get my hands on the temporary store 🙌 in the next few weeks

 

[BeagleLegal]

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

This comes up regularly and there is an intentional reason for there being no store related to tax structuring.

 

[Someyoungguy]

The fact that the Towson mall has lost 3 or 4 non-anchor stores doesn’t really justify Apple’s closure. All retail locations have some turnover. The Apple Store is always busy there, and that mall is huge (128 other non-food stores on 5 levels with two big anchors - Nordstrom and Macy’s). I’m sorry to say, this smells like union busting dressed up to look like the other malls in the story.

 

[Heat_Fan89]

My one and only visit to an Apple store was in Sarasota, Florida and quite frankly it was such an awful experience I would never step foot in their overrated stores ever again. It was like taking part in a Chinese fire drill and that is being disrespectful to Chinese fire drills.

 

[Mrkevinfinnerty]

This comes up regularly and there is an intentional reason for there being no store related to tax structuring.

Tax dodging more specifically. Until the EU had them pay it back.

 

[switz]

On a new product release day, an Apple Store could be really busy. Other days there have been equal staff and customers.

So while the on-line store is convenient, you get no hands on or ability to see the colors in person. The Neo color I thought I wanted from on line viewing (Citrus) was not one I wanted when seeing the four colors in person. Went home with a silver one at 11:30am on 11 March which was the release date. I think I got the second one sold in the store on opening day.

Got home with my silver Neo and cancelled the Citrus Neo on order that had a two week wait for delivery.

On line was not the best solution to acquiring this laptop for me.

I had an iPhone challenge (lost it) and the replacement process was an ordeal. Needed an operational iPhone as no firm delivery date for a replacement and my wife was in Central America with injuries from tripping on the cobble stone streets and her iPhone was acting strangely. Placed an online order to use military discount for a iPhone Air 1TB and drove back to the store to pick it up. Worked with store rep for 2 hours trying to get Air operational.

After multiple trips to Verizon and the Apple Store, finally got the Air fully functional.

When the replacement iPhone arrived, I was able to get the programs restored but not all were in their folders. I went to Verizon to get the cell number removed from the Air to the iPhone 17. After the 17 was operational, got a new number and service for the Air.

A totally stressed out week for me.