A New York City H&M has temporarily closed after an employee revealed on Twitter that a customer had found clothing crawling with bugs — and complained that the location wasn’t doing enough about it.
Twitter user @Madesonee_, who works at the H&M located in the Oculus at World Trade Center in Manhattan, said that the small brown bugs were seen crawling around on a rack of hoodies on Wednesday.
Madesonee shared photos of the bugs, as well as her disappointment with how the store handled it, which allegedly included roping off the area while keeping the store open and failing to notify other employees.
Her tweet has since gone viral, and a spokesperson for the fashion company told DailyMail.com that they have now closed the store out of an ‘abundance of caution.’
A New York City H&M has temporarily closed after an employee wrote on Twitter that a customer had found clothing crawling with bugs
The employee, who works at the H&M located in the Oculus at World Trade Center in Manhattan, said that the bugs were seen crawling around on a rack of hoodies on Wednesday
Madesonee shared photos of the bugs, as well as her disappointment with how managers handled it, which allegedly included roping off the area while keeping the store open and failing to notify other employees
Madesonee shared several photos on Twitter, showing a rack of at least half a dozen light-colored hoodies crawling with multiple bugs.
She said that it was a customer who discovered the pests on the sweatshirts, which were all new from a recent shipment.
‘I work at the H&M in the Oculus at World Trade and today a customer discovered lice on a rack of hoodies,’ she wrote.
‘They’re not closing the store nor are they notifying employees of the problem. The section was just blocked off.’
In another tweet, she said that the clothes hadn’t been on the rack for very long because they ‘get shipments everyday.’
She also said it was the first time she saw anything like that in the store, but recommended that customers wash everything they buy before wearing them.
The woman’s post quickly went viral, and a spokesperson for H&M has told DailyMail.com that they are working to rectify the situation.
‘We take customer and employee safety extremely seriously,’ the representative said. ‘Out of an abundance of caution we have closed the H&M store at Westfield World Trade Center in order to investigate fully.’
She shared some pictures of the bugs to Twitter, and slammed the clothing company for not doing more about the situation
In another tweet, the woman revealed that the clothes hadn’t been on the rack for very long because they ‘get shipments everyday’
She also said it was the first time she saw anything like that in the store, but recommended that customers wash everything they buy before wearing them
Before H&M closed the store, however, commenters shared their disgust over the photos, calling it a health and safety hazard.’
‘Looking at it just made me itch,’ wrote one.
‘This is exactly why physical stores are dying day by day. The concept of public shopping is low-key gross,’ someone else said.
Several commenters called into question Madesonee’s description of the bugs as lice, saying that lice are actually much smaller — with quite a few insisting they were actually bedbugs.
‘Oh no those are bedbugs, but awful either way! Someone prob tried on clothes and transferred them into the store,’ one message read.
‘Take your work clothes off as soon as u get in your home, put them in a plastic bag to transport to a dryer immediately and run that shit on the highest heat!’
The woman’s post quickly went viral, with many people sharing their disgust over the ordeal and putting H&M on blast for it
‘These are adult bedbugs. Store needs to be closed immediately,’ another person wrote.
Someone else said: ‘Those are likely not lice, which are pretty tiny and difficult to photograph. They also don’t just hang out on clothes.’
‘Still just as disgusting no matter what they are lol,’ a different user replied.
‘This is really gross but it doesn’t look like lice,’ another tweet read. ‘Head lice and body lice can’t just survive without a host. And these are big. Whatever it is, it needs to go.’
‘Body lice can,’ the woman who originally shared the pics responded. ‘I learned this today. They can live on clothing for up to a month. Still gross, none the less.’
According to the CDC, body lice can live on clothing and bedding used by infested persons.
People began debating about the type of bug that was found on the clothing. Some pointed out that lice are usually much smaller than that, and claimed it was more likely bedbugs
After going viral, the woman revealed in another tweet that H&M saw her post — but she said she did not get in trouble for it.
She also revealed that she had already quit her job when she posted it, and that her last day is on Friday.
‘I resigned because I hate that place,’ she explained.
However, she did say that she is leaving on a good note and apologized to her manager for her tweet.
‘I apologized to my store manager because I did not expect my tweet to go up like this. I was just annoyed that it was being treated like a minor issue & it wasn’t his fault. It’s the company,’ she said. ‘My coworkers thanked me.’
After going viral, the woman revealed in another tweet that H&M actually saw her post – but she said she did not get in trouble for it
She also revealed that she had already quit her job when she posted it – because she ‘hates that place’ – and that her last day is on Friday