A worker at H&M in the World Trade Center Oculus made a disturbing discovery while inspecting the merchandise. She was appalled to see small insects, possibly bedbugs, crawling on the sweaters that were being sold. Despite alerting the managers about the infestation, the store remained open, and other employees were not warned. The affected area was only cordoned off, preventing anyone from getting too close to the bugs that were swarming along with the clothing.
Twitter user @Madesonee_ took to social media to expose the infestation of brown bugs in the H&M store, after she felt the managers didn’t act promptly. The revelation sparked widespread outrage from people in New York City and beyond. Consumers were aghast that the clothing store remained open while possibly dealing with bedbugs, which spread quickly and can cause painful sores when they feed on human blood.
The off-white sweaters at H&M were swarmed with small brown bugs, clearly visible in photos shared on Twitter by user @Madesonee_. Despite the alarming evidence, the store managers failed to take prompt action and call in exterminators, leaving customers at risk of being bitten by bedbugs.
Compounding the issue, a customer spotted the brown bugs and reported them to the H&M staff member who subsequently took to Twitter. It is noteworthy that all of the sweaters were recently delivered in the same shipment and were brand new.
“I work at the H&M in the Oculus at World Trade, and today a customer discovered lice on a rack of hoodies,” the H&M employee tweeted. “They’re not closing the store, nor are they notifying employees of the problem. The section was just blocked off.”
Thankfully, the contaminated sweaters were not displayed for long as the store receives daily shipments, giving the bugs little time to spread.
Madesonee, who had never seen anything like this at her H&M location before, suggests that customers wash their clothes after purchasing them before wearing them.
After the Twitter post went viral, an H&M spokesperson said that they were addressing the bedbug issue at the World Trade Center store.
“We take customer and employee safety extremely seriously,” the H&M representative stated. “Out of an abundance of caution, we have closed the H&M store at Westfield World Trade Center in order to investigate fully.”
Customers took to social media to express their disgust before the retailer finally closed the store.
“Looking at it just made me itch,” one person wrote.
“This is exactly why physical stores are dying day by day. The concept of public shopping is low-key gross,” another said.
How do you feel about the potential bedbug problem at H&M in Manhattan?
