Buzzkill: Vermin Infestation at West Hollywood 7-11

Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.

It was an uneventful Wednesday night, all we wanted was Smart Water, perhaps a Nerds Rope or some Cinnamon Teddy Grahams. Heading over to the neighborhood 7-11—at Santa Monica Boulevard and Hayworth Avenue—we found a locked door and a handwritten sign saying the store was closed. Was today some sort of Thanksgiving/Easter/Passover super holiday? Upon second glance, there was a posted health code violation: Vermin Infestation and Gross Contamination.

Who cares! All our desired products are packaged! Some dudes rolled up and we shared a mutual WTF Moment and tried to understand a world where 7-11 could just close without warning. According to said handwritten sign, the store will open again on Thursday at 3pm, because apparently it takes about a day to clear a store that's been grossly contaminated with vermin. OK fine, but that didn't help us, dangerously low on electrolytes and refined sugar and Whole Foods closed at 11pm. So not convenient.
-Keri Pina