Walmart Bought the Mall From Dawn of the Dead, Because Subtext Is for Cowards

The Monroeville Mall in Monroeville, Pennsylvania—just outside of Pittsburgh—has long been a beacon of horror history, having served as the filming location for George A. Romero‘s 1978 zombie classic Dawn of the Dead. The mall served a dual purpose for the film, providing not just a reasonably secure place for human survivors to hide out, but also slamming home Romero’s social commentary about the dangers of brain-dead consumerism. Now, the mall has a new owner, and it’s kind of perfect: Walmart.

The largest private employer in America—not to mention the most small-business-destroying big-box store of them all—made the purchase on February 4, which as Comics Beat points out is Romero’s birthday (he died in 2017 at the age of 77). The outlet points to Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 for the news item, which notes that Cypress Equities will manage the property that Walmart now owns, via a statement from Walmart itself: “Walmart did purchase the Monroeville Mall and is very interested in being part of any future redevelopment of this site. Walmart is working with Cypress on mall operations and potential redevelopment of the site. We are unable to share any specific plans at this time.”

No specifics were given as to what the future of the site might hold (Cypress told the station the mall is “well suited for a major redevelopment and repositioning into a mix of uses including retail and entertainment, restaurants, residential, hospitality, office and public spaces,” which could mean just about anything), but WTAE does horror fans a solid by bringing up the mall’s Dawn of the Dead connection—as well as being home to the Living Dead Museum & Gift Shop, a Romero bust, and the annual Living Dead Weekend horror convention (which proudly bills Pittsburgh as “the zombie capital of the world”).

Famously, Romero and his crew filmed the movie during the overnight hours in late 1977 and early 1978—with a brief hiatus taken to avoid continuity disruptions caused by seasonal Christmas decorations—when the mall was closed for shopping.

Romero’s widow, Suzanne, told the station that she expects “redevelopment” will mean “change.” However, she hopes Dawn of the Dead will continue to be an important part of the property moving forward: “Cities need to keep history, and this is part of their history.”

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