Family Dollar to Close Warehouse After Rodent Infestation

The worth-store chain Household Greenback introduced on Wednesday that it was closing an Arkansas warehouse the place the invention of a rodent infestation earlier this 12 months pressured the corporate to recall doubtlessly contaminated gadgets and briefly shut greater than 400 shops.

Randy Guiler, vp of investor relations for Greenback Tree Inc., the dad or mum firm of Household Greenback, confirmed in an e mail that the distribution facility in West Memphis, Ark., would cease transport to shops earlier than the tip of June. Mr. Guiler mentioned roughly 300 staff can be affected.

“We’re dedicated to treating impacted associates pretty and respectfully,” he mentioned, “and we’re doing every thing we will to help them with their transitions, together with offering severance plans to those that are eligible, in addition to providing outplacement providers and worker help applications.”

The corporate determined that the power was not sufficient to “proceed serving the wants and necessities of our shops and clients,” Mr. Guiler mentioned.

He mentioned the closure was not associated to a Meals and Drug Administration inspection of the power in January, which discovered stay and lifeless rodents “in numerous states of decay” and merchandise saved in a manner that didn’t defend towards these unsanitary circumstances.

The F.D.A. mentioned a evaluate of firm information indicated the gathering of greater than 2,300 rodents from late March to September 2021, “demonstrating a historical past of infestation.”

In response to the report, Household Greenback briefly closed 404 shops in six states to conduct a voluntary recall of meals, cosmetics and different merchandise that had been saved on the Arkansas facility from early 2021 to February.

The Arkansas state lawyer normal, Leslie Rutledge, filed a lawsuit towards Household Greenback in April, saying that the corporate willfully uncared for to correctly take care of the power and that it misled shoppers concerning the doubtlessly contaminated merchandise.

The swimsuit mentioned that the circumstances on the West Memphis distribution heart had been a part of a “troubling sample” of rodent infestations at Household Greenback shops throughout the nation.

Ms. Rutledge mentioned in an e mail on Thursday that the closure of the power didn’t handle the underlying downside of how Household Greenback conducts enterprise.

“Household Greenback is punishing a whole bunch of hardworking Arkansas households as a substitute of cleansing up the corporate’s personal, unlawful enterprise practices that put their staff and shoppers in danger,” she mentioned.

West Memphis’s mayor, Marco McClendon, mentioned at a information convention on Wednesday that the town would work with the state to assist staff affected by the closure.

“It’s irritating that over a 30-year relationship with them being right here within the metropolis of West Memphis, and this group being a great accomplice right here within the metropolis of West Memphis, that we are going to be shedding that business,” Mr. McClendon mentioned, “however the folks is what I’m most involved about.”