The Big Business of Battling Bedbugs

Aug. 25, 2010— -- In what some call America's most bedbug-infested city, a man named Frank reluctantly discussed the high cost of his bloodsucking guests.

"I had a bedbug-sniffing dog come out and then exterminator treatment," he said. "I spent $350 for the stupid dog and a few hundred dollars to send my clothing out for cleaning. That's more than $1,000 just to be safe."

Now the bugs were taking another bite out of Frank. He contemplated the ceiling-high display of mattress bedbug barriers priced between $59.99 and $99.99 at a Manhattan Bed Bath & Beyond store.

An entomologist appearing on a video as part of the display declared: "We're seeing an explosion of bedbugs!" Nearby, bright blue bottles of "Rest Easy Bedbug Spray" – at $9.99 each – dangled like ornaments above bedbug-proof box spring and mattress encasements. A Bed Bath & Beyond spokesman declined comment on sales.

From New York's handsome prewar buildings to the low-slung homes of the U.S. heartland, bedbug infestations are translating into big bucks for pest control companies and retailers selling protection against them.

"People are making a lot of money," said Larry Pinto, a Maryland-based pest control consultant and co-author of the Bed Bug Handbook. "Pest control companies specializing in bedbugs are making a lot of money.The ones that are good are making a lot of money. Probably the ones that are bad are, too. It is headache work. At the end of your day, you're totally, utterly exhausted."

This week, none other than extermination company Terminix ranked New York as the nation's bedbug capital. The firm based the ranking on the volume of calls to its offices around the country. New York surpassed Philadelphia, Detroit, Cincinnati and Chicago, which rounded out the top five cities.

Over the last three years, Terminix said, the company's commercial bedbug business more than doubled, with a significantly higher number of calls from individual householders.

Overall, revenues from bedbug control jumped from $98 million in 2006 to $258 million last year, according to Missy Henriksen, spokeswoman for the National Pest Management Association. Still, that's just 5 percent of the $6.5 billion in total sales generated by the industry last year.