FORT MYERS, Fla. — People who work and shop at the Macy's at Edison Mall say the smell inside is awful.
As your Fort Myers community correspondent, I started asking questions about the smell, and the city of Fort Myers started investigating.
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"It's just getting worse and worse, and you can smell it all the more," says the frustrated Macy's employee.
This Macy's employee asked me not to show her face because she needs to keep her job. So, she did a phone interview with me, sharing her concerns.
I verified that she works here.
She says she's had the job for years and wants to keep it with better conditions.
"It's at a point where you know people are complaining," says the frustrated Macy's employee.
I met a customer Friday after she went shopping at Macy's.
Kimberly Ethier says the smell inside was awful, and the heat was overwhelming.
"Right away, I felt the heat and the different odors, like the perfumes and the people's odors, all mixed together, and it was bad," says Ethier. "The only safe place was the bathroom."
I noticed the same thing when I went in, and I saw floor dryers throughout the store.
The question is, why?
I started by asking Macy's corporate.
In a statement, a spokesperson told me,
"At Macy's, the safety of our customers and colleagues is always our top priority. The store is working closely with mall management to make the necessary repairs. The store remains open and we invite customers to continue shopping with us at Macy's Edison Mall."
"It smells of mold and mildew throughout the store." says a frustrated Macy's employee.
And that's the bottom line for the employee. She's worried about her health.
So, I started calling around. The Florida Department of Health sent me to the city of Fort Myers.
Based on my questions, a code enforcement officer went to the store on Thursday. The code enforcement team says the mall manager told them the conditions were because of the air conditioning problem.
She also says the manager told her the problems have nothing to do with the water main break in March, which closed the store for days.
The restoration company is still on site.
"They need to get their A/C fixed because I won't go back in there; it's too hot," says Ethier.
Code enforcement did share that they would follow up on the repairs to their A/C issue.
