Apple is closing this San Diego County store in June – San Diego Union-Tribune

The Apple store in Escondido is closing in June.

It is one of three stores Apple is shuttering in the U.S., according to a statement released by the company Monday.

This one is at North County Mall. The other two are in Connecticut and Maryland.

Four Apple stores remain in San Diego County: Carlsbad, Fashion Valley, Otay Ranch and Westfield UTC. The store in Temecula is 35 miles from the one in Escondido, a slightly shorter drive than to Otay Ranch. The closest, though, is in Carlsbad, a 17-mile drive.

The company explained the closures in a statement.

“As we continue investing to expand and enhance our retail stores and offerings worldwide, we remain deliberate about evaluating our existing locations to ensure that we can meet our customers’ needs in the best way. Following the departure of several retailers and declining conditions at Trumbull Mall, the Shops at North County, and Towson Town Center, we’ve made the difficult decision to close our stores at these locations,” the statement said.

The Escondido mall, initially called North County Fair when it opened in 1988, is referred to as Shops at North County in the Apple statement.

The Escondido store workers will be relocated within the region, Apple said.

A public official in Trumbull, Conn., criticized the move and asked Apple to reconsider, according to The Daily Voice, a local news source.

“The town of Trumbull is deeply disappointed by Apple’s decision to leave the Trumbull Mall,” the official said, according to The Daily Voice. “The region has come to depend on the store for technology services and for employment. This closure leaves a major gap in services for customers. We will be reaching out to Apple to ask them to reconsider closure of the Trumbull location.”

The closure of the Maryland store drew ire from the union that represents its workers.

“The IAM Union is outraged by Apple’s decision to close its Towson, Md., store — the first unionized Apple retail location in the United States — and abandon both its workers and a community that relies on it for critical services and its unique access to public transit,” trade publication 9to5mac.com reported.

The Escondido mall, like the other malls, has lost key tenants. It was sold in 2023 to Mershops and Steerpoint Capital for $57 million, according to CoStar data.

Staff writer Jennifer Van Grove contributed to this report.