Grocery Store From Witness Closes

One of the more famous shooting locations from Harrison Ford’s mid-80s Amish thriller, Witness, is no more. Lancaster Online reports that W.L. Zimmerman & Sons grocery store in Intercourse has closed down.

International visitors have an especial fondness for the film, said Gordon Shuit, who owns Carriage Corner Bed & Breakfast with his wife, Gwen. “They look forward to getting up on that porch and having their pictures taken by the soda machine,” he said.

But being a well-loved location from a famous movie is one thing. Prospering as a local grocery in today’s hyper-competitive era is another. Over the past few years, sales declined to the point where “there wasn’t enough margin to work with any more,” owner Kristine Shirk said.

Your humble reporter was actually in Intercourse over the holidays and entered this grocery store. It was — as many things in Amish country are — perhaps more charming than functional: It was like somebody put in a grocery store on the ground floor of their house — nothing at all like the small warehouses of today. Rest in peace, Zimmerman’s!