Geoffrey The Giraffe Moves To New Brunswick Children's Hospital

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — America watched, stunned, as Toys R Us was unable to crawl back from bankruptcy this spring and began the slow, painful process of shuttering thousands of stores nationwide. In fact, all Toys R Us stores will be closing for good this Friday, June 29.

But there is one small part of the Toys R Us empire that got a new lease on life: Geoffrey the Giraffe. Yes, the iconic and loveable 16-foot tall mascot will soon be leaving Toys R Us' Wayne headquarters and be permanently relocated to Bristol-Myers Squibb Children's Hospital New Brunswick. Geoffrey will likely be placed in the lobby of the children's hospital, where he can greet sick kids and their families.

"He is not here yet, but we anticipate that we will have an unveiling event sometime during the week of July 9," said Peter Haigney, a spokesman for the world-renowned children's hospital, which is part of the RWJBarnabas Health system.

According to Bloomberg, which first reported the story, Toys R Us was eager to unload the 550-pound fiberglass statue, which had been a fixture in its Wayne lobby for years. However, the store struggled to find a buyer to transport and move the giraffe. It was actually a consultant advising Toys R Us on how to liquidate who made the connection with Bristol-Myers Squibb in New Brunswick.

Joseph Malfitano, of Malfitano Partners, wanted to send Geoffrey to a children's hospital in Denver, where his own son has been repeatedly treated for type 1 diabetes. But the Colorado hospital could not accommodate Geoffrey's size.

The clock was ticking. Toys R Us has to close up shop at the Wayne headquarters by this Saturday, June 30. Malfitano posted a last-minute plea on his LinkedIn page for someone to take the giraffe; former colleague Andrea Saavedra saw the post, made some calls and got Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s to take the giraffe.

"As a resident of New Jersey, I felt pretty strongly that this iconic piece of retail history stay in New Jersey," Saavedra told Bloomberg.

Malfitano agreed to pay Toys R Us for Geoffrey, for a sum he declined to disclose to Bloomberg. He also agreed to pay $10,000 for Geoffrey to be packed and shipped from Wayne to New Brunswick.

When Ken Rosen, chair of the bankruptcy department at law firm Lowenstein Sandler, heard about this, he and his wife agreed to donate the cost of Geoffrey’s installation at the hospital, about $6,000. Rosen is also a board member at RWJBarnabas Health

“I just thought it would be really cool for a sick kid to see,” Rosen told Bloomberg. “It’s probably incredibly therapeutic if you’re a sick child looking for a little mental health boost.”

Look for Geoffrey to be in the hospital on the week of July 9! All Toys R Us and Babies R Us stores in America will be closing this Friday, June 29.

Top photo: Geoffrey the Giraffe in the lobby of Toys R Us Wayne headquarters. Credit: Toys R Us