Popular Schramm farm market closing in Harrison City

Schramm Farms & Orchards in Harrison City — with its popular pumpkin patch, maze and fruits and vegetables for sale in its market — is closing at the end of the month after 40 years in business, the owner said Wednesday.

“Everybody gets to retire. I’ve been working 8½ days a week,” said owner Hill Schramm, 65, whose parents opened the market on Blank Road about 40 years ago.

As for turning the business over to the third generation of Schramms to operate the market, Hill Schramm has run into the same problem many family-owned companies face in similar situations.

“The kids want to do something else,” Schramm said matter-of-factly.

Schramm said he has been working on his family’s farm since he was 10. The family owns 300 acres, and the Schramm family has been working the land since the Civil War, selling fruits and vegetables.

Schramm made the announcement on the business’s website. There was speculation the closing would occur after Halloween, a busy time at the market, but timing was not right, he said.

About 20 employees work at the business, but Schramm said on the website that its Grandma’s Country Oven Bake Shoppe, which has its own entrance, will remain open as it is a separate business. The market might open under new management sometime in the future.

In the meantime, Schramm said they will seek to sell the remaining inventory in the store.

He said they will decide sometime in the future what to do with the land.

Charlotte Klevemann of Harrison City, who was shopping at Schramm’s on Wednesday, said she will miss the market’s fruit and vegetables.

“I’ve been coming here for years,” she said.