5th Avenue Apple Store Employees Report ‘Mayhem’ Amid Bed Bug Infestation

Apple frequently deals with bugs in their software. But a new report says the Cupertino tech giant is also dealing with actual bugs at one of their stores.

The massive, brick-and-mortar Apple Store located on 5th Avenue in New York has apparently been crawling with bed bugs for almost a month, according to The New York Post. But it was only this past Friday when management started to handle the situation.

On Friday, a bed bug was spotted in the manager’s office after a month of sporadic sightings. The Post indicates that the bed bug sent “desperate employees into a frenzy, terrified they’d bring the pest home with them.”

One employee described the situation as “mayhem,” while another told the Post that there was a “mass exodus” and that staff were understandably “freaking out.”

Employees at the Apple Store were told to double bag their belongings while a bed bug sniffing beagle came to the store. Apparently, the beagle was eventually set off by two lockers in an employees-only area.

But while management attempted to rectify the situation on Friday, staff said the issue has been going on for nearly a month.

About three to four weeks ago, the bed bug sightings kicked off when staff “cordoned off” a table on the second floor because a bed bug was spotted on it.

The 5th Avenue Apple Store is a 24-hour establishment and frequently has homeless visitors, the Post reports. Staff believe the bed bugs came from one of these visitors.

But while the table was sectioned off, no employees or customers were warned of the bed bug sighting. Bed bugs don’t jump, but can crawl onto a host. One employee said a customer could have leaned against the table and a bug could have crawled on them.

After that sighting, Apple Store management called an exterminator and told employees not to worry. About a week and a half later, an overnight staff member found a bed bug on their sweater and took a video of it. When that clip spread among the 5th Avenue staff, managers again called in the exterminators.

Again, the Apple Store is open 365 days a year and doesn’t typically shut down. But the 5th Avenue location was mysteriously closed for six hours during the night for a “water leak.” Management did not alert employees that the store would be closed.

Since the last bed bug sighting on Friday, staff told the Post that management had called them to say the threat was over and “isolated.”