Apple Closes 3 Stores, Offers 0 Transfers to Unionized Staff at Historic Towson Location

For HR professionals, this is more than a retail closings story—it’s a live case study in how contractual language can create or defuse labor relations crises. The differential treatment of unionized versus non-union workers during a location shutdown raises red flags under the National Labor Relations Act. HR leaders must now scrutinize their own transfer and layoff policies to ensure they don’t inadvertently discriminate against unionized employees, even when a contract appears to permit it.

Apple permanently closed three U.S. retail stores on June 20, 2026, including its first unionized location—the Towson Town Center store in Maryland—triggering sharp accusations of union-busting from labor leaders and elected officials. The closures, which also include Apple Trumbull (Connecticut) and Apple North County (California), were announced in April 2026 as a response to 'declining conditions' at the host shopping malls. However, the controversy stems not from the act of closing stores but from the starkly different transfer opportunities extended to employees. Apple is allowing non-union workers at the two other closing stores to transfer to nearby locations, while unionized employees at Towson are being denied that same benefit. Apple contends it is merely adhering to the terms of the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) signed in 2024 with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers’ Coalition of Organized Retail Employees (IAM CORE). The union and its supporters, including Maryland politicians, argue the company is exploiting a contractual gray area to punish its only unionized retail workforce in the nation.

“

The closures, which also include Apple Trumbull (Connecticut) and Apple North County (California), were announced in April 2026 as a response to 'declining conditions' at the host shopping malls.

The Towson store holds a landmark position in Apple's labor history: it was the first of Apple’s roughly 270 U.S. stores to unionize, a milestone achieved in 2022 after a high-profile organizing drive. The CBA, finalized two years later, was seen as a potential model for other retail locations. But the closure now threatens to undermine that precedent. According to the CBA, in the event of a store closure, Apple would transfer or rehire employees 'if the company opens another store within a certain distance.' The Towson closure does not trigger that provision, Apple claims, because no such replacement store is planned. The union contends the contract was never intended to leave workers without any safety net when the employer initiates the shutdown.

From a labor relations perspective, this is a pivotal test of corporate neutrality commitments. Apple has long asserted it respects workers' right to organize, yet the disparity in treatment—transfers for non-union staff, none for unionized staff—looks suspiciously like retaliation. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has previously scrutinized similar patterns in other industries, and a complaint could rest on whether the refusal to offer transfers constitutes discrimination based on union membership, despite the technical contract language. The political dimension is also escalating, with Maryland lawmakers voicing support for the workers, potentially bringing regulatory or legislative pressure.