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PALMETTO, Georgia (AP) – Shortly after Netflix released "Stranger Things," fans of all ages came to Bradley's Big Buy grocery store in Palmetto, Georgia, dressed as characters from the show. headed for Eggo's waffle corridor. hand.
Millie Bobby Brown, the star of "Stranger Things", filmed a scene under the character of Eleven. Three years later, they still arrive, even after the store has changed its name and is now part of the Piggly Wiggly franchise.
Palmetto is a town of just 5,000 inhabitants located about 40 km southwest of Atlanta, where cashiers at grocery stores greet their customers by name. But after the creation of "Stranger Things" in 2016, it had become customary for employees to also welcome fans from around the world. Fans have visited every day since the re-emergence of the store during the third season on July 4th, said Piggly Wiggly director David Johnston. About 50 fans showed up on Saturday, in mid-July, at a particularly busy time, he said.
"You can see them in the crowd when they come here," said Johnston. "The girl from the other day was dressed like eleven, until blood ran down her nose."
Eleven is a main character in the series known for her mysterious mental powers and the subtle nosebleeds that she gets after activating these powers.
The nostalgic sci-fi series' 80s broke Netflix's records with its third season. In less than four days, 40.7 million accounts had begun to be viewed and 18.2 million already fully completed, announced Netflix on Twitter.
The creators Matt and Ross Duffer staged the series at Hawkins, in Indiana, but in a film shot in Georgia, which offers tax breaks and other incentives to filmmakers and whose The economy is in return for $ 9.5 billion a year in the film industry, according to the Georgia Department of Economic Development Report.
A building on the Briarcliff campus of Emory University in Atlanta served as a laboratory at Hawkins, where all sorts of suspicious activities take place. In Duluth, the crew turned an empty wing and food court at Gwinnett Place into a Starcourt Mall, a lively meeting place where much of the third season takes place.
The mall remains open to customers, but has disappointed fans who go there for a "Stranger Things" experience: a guard posted outside the wing aims to film anyone who tries to enter or take a picture. Fans can take pictures of the outdoors, which looks like the building that appears in the show.
Johnston said he was happy to quickly tour Piggly Wiggly and explain where fictitious events had occurred. He will show you how Eleven walked through the store when she stole a few boxes of Eggo waffles and remember how she walked away from the refrigerator aisle, ignoring the employee chasing her.
Fans like to recreate this scene on the spot, and some ask Johnston to embody the perplexed employee and drive him out of the store, he said. He usually obliges.
"We had a ball with her overall," Johnston said. "Everyone here is doing their best to welcome them."
Employees began encouraging fans to write about their experience in a notebook that they kept at the store.
"I loved coming for eggs and coke," said a note signed by Julia, Mike and Danielle, from New York.
Johnston said the store's Eggo waffle sales had tripled. Employees do not require visitors to make a purchase, but most still buy something, including theme t-shirts with the phrase "The strangest things happen at Bradley's Big Buy."
Jackson's businesses also benefit from new customers in the city. Throughout the series, downtown Jackson has been described as the city of Hawkins, where key characters played by Winona Ryder and Sean Astin worked.
Lucy Lu's cafe opened downtown in 2017, about a year after the release of the first season. In a few months, the café had created a "Stranger Drinks" menu. Popular drinks include the Sheriff Hopper, a vanilla and hazelnut coffee, and Demogorgon, a red-blooded food dye that takes its name from the monster that rages through Hawkins.
Chief barkeeper Jayci Fitzmayer said the menu was a hit with fans and locals alike.
"Many of our regulars also have strange drinks," Fitzmayer said. "They also like being part of it because, just like us, they did not think our city had anything special before it came out."
Lucy Lu experienced one of her best days just weeks after the end of the third season, Fitzmayer said. The store generated net sales of $ 1,200 on July 19, double its daily average.
"It's always hard to tell when someone starts a business, whether it's okay or not, but I think that certainly helped us," Fitzmayer said.
The employees have announced their intention to update the thematic menu of the show to reflect the new features of the past season.
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