Iconic giraffe statue returns to Meijer gas station

TUESDAY, Aug. 24 —  Rest easy, Lansing: The giraffe statue that was emoved from atop the Meijer Express Gas Station on Saginaw Highway last week is back.

The iconic statute — which had been perched above the westside gas station for decades — was removed last week amid ongoing renovations. Its absence ignited a social media panic among many longtime Lansing residents, even triggering an online petition to “put the Meijer giraffe back on the gas station or so help me” that has garnered nearly 900 signatures over the last week.

Those efforts appear to have been successful. 

Meijer had planned to hoist the giraffe back atop the gas station in “a couple months” when the project is finished, store staff told City Pulse last week. Those plans appear to have changed. Crews are still working on the canopy shelter; the giraffe has instead moved to the roof of the building.

“We’ve had so many people asking about it,” a clerk told this reporter last week. “It’s wild.”

The origins of the giraffe statue aren’t totally clear, according to store officials. Calls to Meijer corporate offices were not immediately returned. But local lore offers a variety of explanations.

One online blog reports that the statue was installed on the roof in the late 1970s or early 1980s and was once part of a series of animals that were used to mark parking lot sections to help customers remember where they parked. The store eventually shifted to letter signs instead.

Lansing Facts also proposed another satirical explanation: The giraffe is a tribute to founder Fred Meijer’s pet giraffe, Gerold. And the reason the stores have such high ceilings? Because Fred used to ride his giraffe around the grocery stores during their annual inspections.

Regardless of its true origins, residents can rest easy while construction continues at the gas station, knowing the building is entirely fenced in and monitored by 24/7 video surveillance.