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Hollister Bedbug Infestation Forces NYC Store to Close

by Lesley Kennedy (Subscribe to Lesley Kennedy's posts)
Posted Jul 1st 2010 at 5:05PM  
50 Comments
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Blouses, belts, and bedbugs -- oh, my! Photo: AFP/Getty Images

Here's one that will literally make your skin crawl: Teen fave Hollister has had to close the doors of its New York City SoHo store due to an infestation of bedbugs.

A spokesman for the Abercrombie & Fitch subsidiary connfirms the closing, saying the bedbugs were "affecting certain isolated areas of the store. Our primary concern in any situation of this nature is our customers and associates. We are taking all necessary steps to eradicate the problem as soon as possible and expect the store to reopen shortly," reports The Wall Street Journal.

StyleList couldn't reach anyone at the 40,000-square-foot flagship store, which opened last summer. A voice message simply states, "Our store is currently closed and will reopen soon."

According to the Gothamist, an anonymous source who works at the store claims senior management ignored bedbug complaints for nearly a month. Here's what the source tells the site in an e-mail:

"The four-story flagship store is known for hiring models and having them stand around the store scantily clad to help market the brand. The first report of bedbug bites in the store was three weeks ago by an employee and a manager, but that was ignored. On Tuesday the 29th, an employee found that she had been bitten, and also found a live bedbug and an exoskeleton on her borrowed Hollister outfit. All of the employees were forced to continue working even though more and more bugs were being discovered.

"Multiple employees were covered in bites. Hollister was more concerned about losing money than the health and safety of their hundreds of employees and thousands of customers. If they were concerned in the least, the store would have been shut down the moment the first bugs were discovered. Just today they closed the store down, but who knows how many employees and customers were exposed to the outbreak in the past three weeks, only jeopardizing the rest of the stores in the area as bedbugs spread like wildfire.

"Bedbugs only feed at night, and if you've ever been inside Hollister, you know that it is almost completely dark. I'm sure you can imagine the store has become a bedbug breeding ground since it was first exposed. Go Hollister!"

OK, we're ready for a shower now. But if you want to gross yourself out a little more, check out this new report on bacteria in your reusable shopping bags. Pass the Lysol!
Read All Comments
Filed under: Fashion, News, Designers & Brands, Shopping
Tags: Abercrombie Fitch, bedbugs, bug bites, bugs, hollister, infestations, store closings, stores
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READER COMMENTS

(50)Add A Comment

CMG, 7-02-2010, 7:37AM

3 stars vote downvote upReport
CMG

MY ASS WOULD OF BEEN LONG GONE IF I SAW THEM BUG'S, AND I WOULD OF CALLED THE COP'S AND MADE A COMPLAINT AND THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT WOULD OF GOTTEN THERE FASTER THROUGH A POLICE CALL, NEVER IN MY LIFE WOULD I BE TOLD TO CONTINE TO WORK LIKE THAT HOPE THEY GET SUED,AND CLOSED DOWN FOR GOOD................

Reply »

cin, 7-02-2010, 7:23AM

3 stars vote downvote upReport
cin

I smell multiple lawsuits!

Reply »

anna, 7-02-2010, 8:18AM

Half a star vote downvote upReport
anna

now you blame obama for bed bugs! you right wing nut jobs need a hobby

»

Alice, 7-02-2010, 7:31AM

Half a star vote downvote upReport
Alice

Bed Bugs are becoming a huge problem in many Hotels and Motels. They were never heard of until this Obama guy was elected and since his people want to play the role of being rich, they travel and stay at these hotels and motels which infest the beds with these bugs. My husband and I stopped traveling because of this threat and the bed bugs are difficult to eliminate once they infest a bed or places that have lot's of clothing material.

Reply »

bjay0421, 7-02-2010, 1:47PM

3 stars vote downvote upReport
bjay0421

It is racists like you that hurt this country.
May you be stuck with bedbugs for life!!!

»

Angie, 7-02-2010, 8:03AM

3 stars vote downvote upReport
Angie

If you shop at Abercrombie or Hollister, you deserve bedbugs with your overpriced, lame, and incredibly ugly clothes.

Btw, a bunch of freaking MORONs have posted comments so far... this isn't a political blog so shut the f*ck up! Why can't AOL actually monitor these idiotic blogs... just get rid of them, the retarded comments from the repuke masses make no sense and just piss me off!

Reply »

Mark, 7-02-2010, 8:41AM

3 stars vote downvote upReport
Mark

I agree, this article has nothing to do with politics, BUT if you remember, people did the same to Bush in the comments sections. He got blamed for everything by the democraps. So turn about is fair.

»

TJK, 7-02-2010, 8:21AM

Half a star vote downvote upReport
TJK

Get off the soap box ans stick to the subject.........

Reply »

Jujubara, 7-02-2010, 8:25AM

3 stars vote downvote upReport
Jujubara

How the hell is it Obamas fault bedbugs are making a come back? People are morons! Bedbugs have been around longer than Obama has been alive!

As for the bugs, they are spread from idoits that dont close down stores or hotels/motels when they are found!

Reply »

myviewok, 7-02-2010, 8:36AM

Half a star vote downvote upReport
myviewok

Warren please stay on topic.One would think a few of those bed bugs got in your head.Toot that crap elsewhere.

Reply »

WORD!, 7-02-2010, 8:47AM

2 stars vote downvote upReport
WORD!

YEA ANGIE THAT WOULD BE NICE. LETS EMPLOY A BUNCH OF PEOPLE TO MONITOR THE THOUSANDS OF COMMENTS. OH BUT THEN YOUR RATES WOULD GO UP AND YOU WOULD BITCH ABOUT THAT!

Reply »

Zippertheslipper, 7-02-2010, 8:48AM

2.5 stars vote downvote upReport
Zippertheslipper

Reading this makes me feel scared like a little girl. I am going to retreat to my bunker until this bed bug fad blows over.

Reply »

irenaios, 7-02-2010, 8:49AM

Half a star vote downvote upReport
irenaios

Warren is obsessed: he CAN'T stay on subject because he doesn't know what the subject is.

Reply »

bob, 7-02-2010, 9:08AM

Half a star vote downvote upReport
bob

As long as we are turning this into a political rant let me have my say. We should borrow a page from the consertative right and not require a literacy test but an IQ test to votel One would have to have an IQ of over 60 to be able to vote which would eliminate about three fourths of the Republican vote.

Reply »

Tom, 7-02-2010, 9:09AM

3 stars vote downvote upReport
Tom

I'm 56 years old.
Even as a child, bedbugs were pretty much a thing of the past.

The most recent scientific article (not this blogger BS) I read about them said that bedbugs had been vitually eliminated in the US due to the heavy use of stong insecticides after WW II.
Use of those chemicals was stopped for environmental reasons. (Human health, bird eggs, etc.)

The recent infestation has been attributed to travelers from foreign countries.
Upscale hotels in NYC were the first place where they became an epidemic.

Americans traveling to NYC and staying in those hotel rooms got bedbugs in their clothing and suitcases, and transported them back to their homes or to other hotels/motels.

Health officials recommend that US travelers pull back the sheets and inspect the mattress, especially the seams, for bed bugs. If found, notify management and request another room.
Inspect it!

Use the metal-legged suitcase stands. Never lay clothes on the bed or on the floor.

Upon arrival back home, immediately wash all of the clothes from the suitcase, even those not worn.
Leave the suitcase outside and spray it with a disinfectant or insecticide.

In all of my travels throughout the US, and some trips to Canada, Mexico, and the Bahamas, I have been fortunate to have never encountered these nasty bugs, but now take those precautuions.

I live in the country in Central Texas.
My biggest concerns are spider bites and scorpion stings.
Who knows...., maybe my bad critters keep the bedbugs at bay?

Reply »

hydracalm, 7-02-2010, 9:11AM

3 stars vote downvote upReport
hydracalm

I will give you that Alice is not a smart and way off base with her comment, but resorting to your racist comment about her shows you in the same light.

Reply »

nobody's side, 7-02-2010, 9:18AM

3 stars vote downvote upReport
nobody's side

All this bickering about this & that when the truth is everything is screwed up by the people in our world not just the one's running it. Look at what some of you guy's have said to one another name calling and so forth not realizing you were just divided by the lies. When it fact most of you are just listening to the hear say and to the MEDIA one of the biggest liar's of all. Ignorance is an EPIDEMIC and it's spreading.

Reply »

dDoggie, 7-02-2010, 10:16AM

1 star vote downvote upReport
dDoggie

Angie-- go chill girl-- everyone with a brain knows there were NO bedbugs around until Obamanation was made pres and the democrabs got into power. They are the direct cause of bedbugs

Reply »

Jack, 7-02-2010, 9:38AM

2 stars vote downvote upReport
Jack

He, he, he....So, the SoHo Ho's got bedbugs...Can crabs be far behind...Or maybe on the behind of the models?

Reply »

William Patrick Haines, 7-02-2010, 9:38AM

2 stars vote downvote upReport
William Patrick Haines

Part of this both the left the right fault ,The right deregulates health and safety standards and folks on the left do not want to use pesticides for any reason imaginable even at the expense of public health and safety !!

Reply »

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