"Walking Dead" fans are dying to visit The Woodbury Shoppe

A zombie piggy bank, one of the
items at The Woodbury Shoppe.

“Welcome to Woodbury, a Walker-Free Community” boasts a T-shirt.  It’s one of the many zombie collectibles found at The Woodbury Shoppe in Senoia, Georgia, where AMC Television films scenes for The Walking Dead.

Carrie and Randall Cottrill opened the store, which specializes in licensed Walking Dead merchandise, in May. “We knew it was going to be good, but the response has been ten times what we could ever imagined,” Carrie tells me. She reports visitors from across the U.S. as well as Canada, Scotland, Germany, Australia, and New Guinea.

The hottest selling items are T-shirts and mugs, but the store also offers posters, masks, bobble heads, comic books, hats, and busts. The Cottrills have an exclusive arrangement with Robert Kirkman, creator of The Walking Dead graphic novels. “We also have just recently branded our products that have more to do with the Woodbury experience,” says Carrie. “You name it Walking Dead, we've got it.”

Daryl (Norman Reedus), Glenn (Steven Yeun), Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Hershel (Scott Wilson) have been spotted by the show’s fans at The Woodbury Shoppe. “We've had everybody from the cast come except for Michonne,” Carrie says. “They say she’s going to come.”

Norman Reedus (Daryl) with Carrie Cottrill
at The Woodbury Shoppe in Senoia, Ga.

The store owner said fans often divert vacations with treks to the shop in Senoia, hoping to get a glimpse of the actors. “The stars do come by our store, and they are frequently sighted, but we don’t have any direct ties to the cast,” she explains.  “When they stop by it has all been at random. Unfortunately people come to town and think that we have some type of agreement or way of getting the stars into the shop.”

The Cottrills are feeling the impact of star power. “We ordered a trucker hat and I didn't know if anyone would buy it, but Norman Reedus came in, bought it, tweeted himself wearing it, and immediately people rushed in and the hat was gone in two hours,” Carrie said. “We've also had a lot of behind-the-scenes people come that really have their own unique following. Greg Nicotero, who does the makeup for the zombies, has a huge following.”

Many of the businesses stay open during filming by directing customers through back doors. Most of the scenes for the upcoming fourth season are being filmed at the studio. “They did some locations in Griffin and some surrounding areas,” says Carrie. “Rumor is they will be in the town of Senoia for about four days in July, but so far they haven’t covered our windows or done any of the normal things that they do during the filming.  We don’t have a back entrance; however, we are located right on the corner so I’m interested to see how it will affect us.”

Visit The Woodbury Shoppe's Facebook page