Boston health officials met with community members Tuesday to discuss the closure of a Stop & Shop in Roxbury due to an infestation of mice.
"The majority of participants who rely on the supermarket are seniors and young folks," said community activist Virginia Morrison Mohamed. Residents said they are eager for things to get back to normal and they want to see the supermarket taken care of better.
A spokesperson for Stop & Shop said on Monday that the store, located at 460 Blue Hill Avenue, was closed by the Boston Inspectional Services Department. Cleaning crews were seen at the building on Monday and Tuesday with mops and heavy-duty cleaning machines.
The Boston Inspectional Services met with representatives from Stop and Shop on Tuesday, outlining a plan for keeping the store clean going forward.
"Things are looking very good," said William Christopher, Director of the Inspectional Services Department. "They have quite a work force in there. They have pulled apart everything that we asked them to do."
According to Christopher, a customer found evidence of mice on Friday and reported it to someone. Christopher said nothing had been cleaned up when they returned Monday. Health officials said there were mouse droppings and dead mice found in and around the store. At least one dead rat was also found outside the building.
Christopher said he has been the director for two years and this is the first time he has shut down a grocery store for this reason.
According to inspection documents obtained by 7News, the Stop and Shop has had violations dating back to 2014, but none bad enough to close the store. Violations included flies over a fish counter, soiled floors and no soap for handwashing at a sink.
"This is the first time they’ve had critical violations that bring us to the level of closing the store, they’ve had non-critical violations, which is the day-to-day maintenance of the supermarket," Christopher said.
Stop & Shop will meet with city officials Wednesday to discuss when the supermarket can reopen.
Stop & Shop released this statement on Monday:
"Regardless of the reasons, the conditions at this Stop & Shop store location are our responsibility. We are cooperating with the Department and are making every possible effort to address the conditions and bring the store into compliance with our own high standards as quickly as possible. We apologize for this inconvenience to our Roxbury customers and commit to do our very best to ensure that this situation does not reoccur," the company said.
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