National Wholesale Liquidators

514 Rhode Island Ave. NE

Closed: Dec. 4

Reopened: Dec. 8

History: no citations listed in city records dating back to 1999

Health Department Says: vermin infestation and gross unsanitary conditions

Business Says: Yeah, but we’ve taken care of it. “We had a lot of mice,” confirms National Wholesale Liquidators assistant manager Abdul Boukari. In order to remove droppings and get rid of the critters, Boukari says there was a store cleanup and new procedures were introduced on how to handle the store’s foodstuffs. “We cover them with plastic,” he says. “The candy and stuff, we used to put them in bins. Now, because [the city] said it was not safe, we don’t put them in bins; we put them in plastic. We cover them every night before we leave, and then the next day we open it before people come into the store.” Boukari says that putting all edibles in plastic has solved the vermin problem. “No more mice,” he says.