Willow Grove Mall's Teavana To Shut Down, Along With 379 Locations Nationwide

WILLOW GROVE, PA — Starbucks officials plan to close all their Teavana stores throughout the U.S. by next spring, including the location inside the Willow Grove Mall.

Officials made the announcement last week, detailing that all of the 379 Teavana stores primarily based in malls deemed "under-performing" would close by spring 2018. Teavana is located in three area malls: Exton Square, King of Prussia, and Willow Grove.

Teavana stores specialize in selling teas, teaware and accessories. All told, the closures will affect 3,300 workers nationwide, according to company officials.

"The company concluded that despite efforts to reverse the trend through creative merchandising and new store designs, the under-performance was likely to continue," Starbucks officials said in a press release, noting that laid-off employees will be urged to apply for jobs at Starbucks locations.

>>Willow Grove JCPenney Among 3 Local Stores Closing

The announcement is the latest in a string of store closings among retailers operating out of malls, including JCPenney and Gamestop, which previously announced plans to shut down their brick-and-mortar sites to focus on e-commerce sites, CNN and numerous other media outlets have reported.

CNN noted there were 5,300 store closing announcements in the first six months of the year— triple the number during the same period last year — according to analysis by Fung Global Retail & Technology. The news on the mall tenants gets worse: Between 20% and 25% of American malls will close within five years, Credit Suisse said in a report released last month, CNN noted.

With reporting from Patch correspondent Tony Cantu

Image via Wathriotu, Wikimedia Commons