The Whole Foods store located on Stevens Creek Boulevard reopened on Monday, Sept. 29, after a five-month hiatus due to vermin infestations. The store initially underwent a partial closing on April 7, when inspectors from the Santa Clara County Department of Environmental Health reported rodent droppings in multiple areas of the store, including the deli, juice bar and produce section. The county suspended the entire store from operating on April 22 until all safety concerns were resolved.
Ruth Eller, a teacher at Lincoln Elementary School, used to be an avid customer of the store. She was initially drawn to this particular Whole Foods location’s wide variety of health supplements, which she she was unable to find elsewhere during the store’s temporary closure. Eller recalls feeling appalled and disillusioned by the infestations, a sentiment that was common among the store’s customers.
During its closure, Whole Foods focused on addressing the hygiene concerns that led to its hiatus, prioritizing safety, cleanliness and facility upgrades. Whole Foods’ Whole Body supervisor Willis Rosenthal, who manages the body care and wellness section, says that the store worked with pest control services and county health inspectors to make improvements and renovations, especially to the areas that held fresh foods. Rosenthal, who has worked at Whole Foods for 13 years, explains that the store is accountable to health inspections by both city and third-party auditors, and the refurbishment of this location was especially thorough.
“We brought in exterminators and we took every single item out of the store,” Rosenthal said. “It took quite a long time. It was a few months of eradicating and then exterminating, and then refurbishing. All the perishable departments where they serve food in the open were completely renovated. From the floors to fixtures like refrigerators and ovens, everything was completely gutted and replaced with brand new equipment.”…