View Safeway closed due to vermin in a larger map

The D.C. Department of Health ordered the temporary closure of the Safeway located at 514 Rhode Island Ave. NE on Wednesday due to a vermin infestation, officials said.

A call to the store confirmed that it remains closed this morning. The store “will reopen once all issues have been corrected,” said DOH spokesperson Dena Iverson in an email.

Nearby resident Mandi Wolfes stopped by the Safeway to do some shopping just before 5 p.m. on Wednesday, but security guards were already in the process of escorting customers out of the store, and were not letting anyone inside. Signs indicating the store was being closed were already posted outside the store, she said.

“They did not give any information on the reason for closing, only that they did not know when the store would be reopened,” Wolfes told DCist.

We’ve got a call in to Safeway’s corporate office, and will be updating this story as more information becomes available.

UPDATE: Safeway spokesperson Craig Muckle says that the store is “working to address the issues, and we’re hoping that we can reopen the store later today.” The Department of Health will need to return to re-inspect the store before an order can be issued to allow them to reopen, and Muckle said the plan is that they will come back today. Muckle didn’t know the particulars of what steps are being taken to address the vermin problem, but said that Safeway has a pest control company they use regularly, and “they are involved.”