First Apple Store in the U.S. to Unionize is Permanently Closing Soon

Apple today announced that it will be permanently closing three of its retail stores in the U.S. in June, and one of them was unionized.

Apple Towson Town Center in Towson, Maryland is one of the stores being shuttered. The staff at this location 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 store will be eligible to apply for open roles at Apple in accordance with their collective bargaining agreement.

While this news might lead Apple to face some accusations of union busting, many news reports have indicated that Towson Town Center is in significant decline and has lost many major retailers. Earlier this year, for example, Banana Republic, Madewell, and Tommy Bahama announced they were leaving the struggling shopping mall.

At the same time, Apple could have gone above and beyond the agreement by offering affected employees the option to transfer to a nearby store like it did for the other two stores it is closing, but it evidently decided not to.