Teavana To Close Towson Mall Store By Spring 2018

TOWSON, MD - Starbucks announced it will close all 379 Teavana stores, including the one at Towson Town Center, in its recent earnings report. The company expects to close all stores by spring 2018.

The tea-centered shops 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.

Starbucks called the Teavana stores "persistently underperforming" in a statement to investors on Thursday.
Despite efforts to reverse the trend through creative merchandising and new store designs, the trend was likely to continue, company officials said, which led to the decision to close all the locations.

The closures will eliminate approximately 3,300 jobs, but Starbucks says employees 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.

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 Editors Emily Leayman and Deb Belt contributed to this story.

Image via Bob Hall/Flickr/used under Creative Commons.