Apple is Permanently Closing Three U.S. Stores This Month

Apple will be permanently closing three of its retail stores in the U.S. on the evening of Saturday, June 20, according to its website. Apple Towson Town Center. The locations that are closing: Apple Trumbull in Trumbull, Connecticut Apple North County in Escondido, California Apple Towson Town Center in Towson, Maryland In April, Apple said it made the "difficult decision" to close the stores due to "declining conditions" at the shopping malls in which they are located. Notably, the staff at the Towson Town Center location 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), and they signed a collective bargaining agreement with Apple in 2024. The union and the store's employees have been protesting the planned closure, and some lawmakers in Maryland have voiced their support. The union is upset that Apple is allowing non-unionized employees at the Trumbull and North County stores to transfer to nearby locations, but not extending this offer to unionized employees at the Towson location. For its part, Apple said it is simply honoring the terms of the collective bargaining agreement that the employees agreed to. According to Apple, the contract states that in the event of a store closure, Apple would transfer or rehire employees if the company opened a new store within 50 miles of the current location at Towson Town Center. In any other circumstance, the union negotiated for employees to receive severance, which is being provided. Apple said it has no current plans to open a new store in the area, but if it were to do so within 18 months after the collective bargaining agreement was ratified, the affected employees would have the right of first refusal. Nevertheless, IAM has accused Apple of potential union busting and said that the agreement "requires equal treatment." "Apple workers in Towson voted to join the IAM,