Teavana To Close Bethesda, Wheaton Mall Stores By Spring 2018

BETHESDA, MD — Do you enjoy getting Teavana samples when you go to the mall? That will be no more next year. Starbucks announced it will close all 379 Teavana stores, including the one at Westfield Montgomery and Westfield Wheaton malls, according to its recent earnings report.

The company expects to close all stores by spring 2018. The stores are mostly in malls, which have suffered from less foot traffic, Starbucks Chief Financial Officer Scott Harlan Maw told investors. He said Teavana stores have been seeing "operating losses for some time," according to Business Insider.

The roughly 3,300 workers left without jobs because of the closures will be eligible to apply for positions at Starbucks stores. The ubiquitous coffee shop chain says it remains on track to create 240,000 new jobs globally and 68,000 in the U.S. over the next five years.

On its website, the company said the principally mall-based Teavana retail stores have been "persistently underperforming. Following a strategic review of the Teavana store business, the company concluded that despite efforts to reverse the trend through creative merchandising and new store designs, the underperformance was likely to continue." That led to the decision to close all the locations.

The company is not the only to suffer from a retail slump this year. Fortune reports that 2017 is on pace to have a record amount of bankruptcies. Clothing retailer True Religion filed for bankruptcy earlier in July. Brands such as The Limited, Hhgregg and Wet Seal have already closed all of their stores.

See more from Business Insider.

— Patch Editor Emily Leayman contributed to this story
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