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All the fashion and media hysteria in New York over the city's recent spate of bedbug infestations has got everyone on their toes. In Ohio, local store owners in Columbus are taking preventative measures to keep the little bloodsuckers out of their merchandise. Shopkeepers need to acquire special licenses to sell upholstered materials—the licenses allow them to use specific chemicals to ward off bedbugs. "They are not invisible," a store owner told the local NBC affiliate. "If you know what you are looking for then you can keep an eye open. That's going to be your first line of defense. That not only deals with bed bugs, it kills everything. It's an insecticide, mildewcide, it's an amazing product."
Thrift stores in the Columbus area, including Goodwill and the Salvation Army inspect all items before accepting them for donation—Goodwill will not take mattresses and boxsprings and the Salvation Army exterminates all its furniture before putting it out on the selling floor.
· Local store owners take preventative action against bedbugs [NBC4i]