Apple Closes Three U.S. Stores, Including Its First Unionized Location, Amid Union Backlash

Apple is moving forward with permanently closing three of its retail stores in the United States, including the company’s first unionized location, drawing accusations of potential union-busting from labor leaders even as Apple maintains it is simply honoring the terms of an existing labor contract.

The Stores Closing

The locations closing on the evening of Saturday, June 20, are Apple Trumbull in Trumbull, Connecticut; Apple North County in Escondido, California; and 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.

A Historic Union Location

The closure of the Towson Town Center store carries particular significance given its place in Apple’s labor history. 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, known as IAM CORE, and they signed a collective bargaining agreement with Apple in 2024.

Protests From Workers and Politicians

The union and the store’s employees have been protesting the planned closure, and some politicians in Maryland have voiced their support for the workers’ position as the closure date approached.

The Core Dispute Over Employee Transfers

At the heart of the controversy is a disparity in how Apple is treating workers at the closing locations. 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.

The Union’s Response

Despite Apple’s framing of the situation as a straightforward application of the negotiated contract terms, IAM has accused Apple of potential union busting and said that the agreement “requires equal treatment.” IAM President Brian Bryant issued a pointed statement criticizing the company’s handling of the closure. “Apple workers in Towson voted to join the IAM, fought for and won a contract, and are now being punished for it,” said Bryant. “Apple signed a collective bargaining agreement that requires equal treatment. It is time for Apple to honor that agreement and do right by these workers before June 20.”

A Mall in Genuine Decline

Beyond the labor dispute, there is evidence suggesting broader economic factors may also be playing a meaningful role in Apple’s decision to exit the location. Towson Town Center is genuinely in a state of decline and has lost many other major retailers in recent years, so it is very likely that Apple is exiting the shopping mall at least partly due to the worsening conditions.

Potential Wider Implications for Unionization Efforts

Despite the apparent economic justification for the closure, the situation carries broader implications for how Apple employees elsewhere might view the value of organizing. The situation might lead employees at other stores to worry that joining a union does not always work out, and that could be advantageous to Apple given that the company has discouraged unionization at its retail locations more broadly.

That dynamic places the Towson closure at the center of a sensitive moment for organized labor within Apple’s retail workforce, given that the Towson store’s 2022 unionization vote represented a landmark moment that has since influenced organizing efforts at other Apple retail locations and other companies’ workforces watching closely for precedent.

With all three stores now permanently closed as of Saturday evening, attention turns to whether Apple and the IAM can resolve their dispute over employee treatment in the weeks and months ahead, particularly regarding the 18-month window during which displaced Towson workers would retain a right of first refusal should Apple open a new location nearby. For now, the contrast between Apple’s treatment of unionized versus non-unionized employees affected by the same round of closures is likely to remain a point of contention, with the union continuing to frame the situation as a test of whether collective bargaining agreements meaningfully protect workers during corporate restructuring, even when a company’s stated rationale for closure centers on external factors like a declining shopping mall rather than the unionization itself.