Macy’s follows Bloomingdale’s as the second retailer to come forth in a week with the confession that they had a problem. Just one, tiny problem: a bedbug. Not bedbugs, but just one lonely bug, hanging out in not a bed but an office workstation in the Herald Square flagship, maybe stealing some Post-Its and Bics all by its sad little self. Hard to believe since bedbugs are known to travel in rapidly spawning packs showering its habitats with eggs, but Macy’s stands by the lone finding.
“Within these past few months, bedbugs have increasingly become a citywide problem affecting many businesses and residences in Manhattan,” said a Macy’s Inc. spokeswoman. “Just last Friday, a bedbug was discovered at a workstation in the office tower at our Herald Square store. We identified it and immediately removed it from the premises. We have taken all necessary steps to exterminate and contain the problem. Currently, no bedbugs have been sighted or reported in the store or on other floors of the tower. We are committed to ensuring the comfort and sanitary conditions of our work sites.”
Asked if there were more than one bedbug, a Macy’s spokeswoman said, “Just one according to the exterminator.”
It’s strange — why announce one bedbug if it was indeed just one? Retailers used to be afraid of talking about bedbugs but now they’re all coming out and saying they have them like it’s the coolest problem ever. It’s like that time a few years ago when every other celebrity went to rehab and it was the most amusing thing in the world. Or maybe, bedbugs being the inevitable in retail these days, stores are looking at them with new eyes as just a creature they’ll have to deal with, and not necessarily one that wields utter terror. If you’re scared as hell of bedbugs and wish you had this mentality, watch this video by Columbia University psychologist Kevin Ochsner, who says that thinking about bedbugs in a completely new way can help you get those fears under control.
NYC Bedbug Problems Grow [WWD]
