From staff reports

Teavana in The Empire Mall is closing, along with all of the retail tea shops owned by Starbucks Inc.

A worker at the Sioux Falls location, which has been open for four years, said the store expects to hear in the next couple of weeks when it will be closing.

In a news release Thursday announcing its quarterly results, Starbucks said it would close the 379 Teavana stores “over the coming year, with the majority closing by spring 2018.”

Employees can apply for jobs at Starbucks stores. The company reported record earnings of $5.7 billion for the third quarter.

Here’s the company’s full statement about Teavana, which it acquired in 2012:

“As reported on the Q2 call, many of the company’s 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.  As a result, Starbucks will close all 379 Teavana stores over the coming year, with the majority closing by Spring 2018. The approximately 3,300 partners impacted by these closures will receive opportunities to apply for positions at Starbucks stores, as Starbucks remains on track to create 240,000 new jobs globally and 68,000 in the U.S. over the next five years.”