Everything must go at former toy retailer giant Toys ‘R’ Us — including giraffe mascot Geoffrey.
Toys ‘R’ Us’ 650,000 square foot corporation office liquidation sale in North Jersey got underway early Saturday morning, the company announced on Twitter.
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Included in the sale is a large statue of Geoffrey the Giraffe as well as large figures of King Kandy of Candy Land fame, a giant Minion figure from the Despicable Me franchise, and a life-sized Sulley from Monsters, Inc.
Toys ‘R’ Us has made their remaining treasures available for browsing on Dropbox, including office furniture, cubicles, shelves, and meeting room and theater equipment.
In-store liquidation sales were announced in March and by May the company announced their intention to auction off the Toys ‘R’ Us name, the Geoffrey the Giraffe logo, and the Babies ‘R’ Us logo and brand.
Employees of the now-shuttered retailer met with lawmakers in New Jersey on Friday to push for severance pay after it was learned Toys ‘R’ Us wouldn’t be paying severance to its more than 30,000 workers who will lose their jobs as the retailer shuts down, The Washington Post reported.
“This is the story of a company — one of the most iconic in America — that was saddled with so much debt that it could not succeed,” Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.) said Friday in the parking lot of a Totowa, N.J. Toys ‘R’ Us store. “And now the big guys are walking away and the workers are left with nothing.”
Employees lay blame on a 2005 leveraged buyout in which new owners private-equity firms Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Bain Capital, as well as real estate firm Vornado Realty Trust, saddled Toys ‘R’ Us with more than $5 billion in debt.
Per The Washington Post, the company filed for bankruptcy last year, citing $7.9 billion in debt against $6.6 billion in assets ahead of its March closure of all of its U.S. stores.
“I have always been proud to work at Toys ‘R’ Us, but this is not Toys ‘R’ Us — this is KKR and Bain Capital,” said Arizona Toys ‘R’ Us store manager Tracy Auerbach, a 31-year employee of the company, during a news conference on Capitol Hill in May.
“This is Wall Street greed. How can they walk away with millions and leave 33,000 workers with zero?”
A revived KB Toys said in March they hope to launch new stores by Christmas and fill positions with Toys ‘R’ Us employees affected by the closures.
@ToysRUs
The Toys R Us 650K SF Corporate Office Liquidation Sale in North Jersey has started. Everything must go. Including Geoffrey.
— ToysRUs (@ToysRUs) June 2, 2018
Click here for images –> https://t.co/LYHyhTBTsD pic.twitter.com/xxnQB2Wf7W
@gonordrike
Geoffrey deserves to be bought or donated to a local children’s hospital so ill children can look up to him and smile! ♥️
— ?Ed Nordrike Parker (@gonordrike) June 2, 2018
@mikeraburn
— Michael Raburn (@mikeraburn) June 3, 2018
@Coprico1329
— Topacio (@Coprico1329) June 3, 2018
@thenickperdue
Geoffrey: oh I can go now? pic.twitter.com/xxtcsp04MM
— Nick Perdue Daily (@thenickperdue) June 3, 2018
@JoLoKHOU
“EVEN GEOFFREY”!!!
— Joseph Lopez (@JoLoKHOU) June 2, 2018
SOMEONE SAVE GEOFFREY https://t.co/N3mQ2xebdX
@AppaJoose
This is so depressing. Thanks @ToysRUs for always being one of me and my family’s favorite places to hang out. We’ll miss you. #geoffreyinthesmithsonian pic.twitter.com/Al0Aza920E
— AppaJoose (@AppaJoose) June 2, 2018
@StarBitzs
NOT GEOFFREY, PUT HIM IN A MUSEM OR A CHILdRENS HOSPITAL
— ?Sachi? (@StarBitzs) June 3, 2018
@Phillybling
Why Geoffrey the giraffe though??? He should at least go in a museum. Toys R Us has been a part of our lives for decades. #SaveGeoffreyTheGiraffe
— Valerie Banks (@Phillybling) June 3, 2018
@RonnieKush
Finally had to grow up. Smh
— Ꭺ$ᎪᏢ Ronnie™♕? (@RonnieKush) June 3, 2018