Kepner Scott Shoe Company in Orwigsburg on Jeopardy tv show

When Audrey Zimmerman’s phone rang a few months ago, she was confused to see the name that popped up on her caller ID.

“Jeopardy!” was listed as the caller, and Audrey answered to find out it was a writer from the popular game show informing her that her family’s shoe company in Orwigsburg might be chosen as an answer in an upcoming episode.

A subsequent call confirmed that Kepner Scott Shoe Company would in fact be mentioned on the show, and told her the air date.

So on Monday evening, Audrey and her family were tuned in to watch their business’s moment of fame.

During the Double Jeopardy round of the show under the category “In Good Company,” host Ken Jennings read the $400 clue – “A company with a lot of sole, Kepner Scott in Orwigsburg, Pennsylvania is the oldest surviving maker of these for kids in America.”

One of the contestants buzzed in and responded, “What are shoes?,” which Jennings told them was correct.

“It was really exciting,” Audrey said.

The company, which is located on N. Liberty Street, about two blocks from Orwigsburg’s downtown square, opened in 1888 making children’s shoes. Audrey’s great-grandfather, Milo Zimmerman, bought it in 1962 and got right to work making changes.

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Audrey Zimmerman ties the laces of a shoe at Kepner Scott Shoe Company in Orwigsburg, Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025. The company was recently featured as an answer on Jeopardy! (MATTHEW PERSCHALL/MULTIMEDIA EDITOR)

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Children’s footwear was stiff and hard back then, so Milo worked with an engineer to make more comfortable products, which the public appreciated, Audrey said.

“He had worked in the shoe industry his entire career, and he knew he could make a better shoe, so he redid how children’s shoes were made, and the rest is history,” she said. “He was a pioneer.”

Audrey and her sister, Addie Zimmerman, are fourth generation shoemakers, following Milo, their late grandfather H. Clair Zimmerman, their father, Steve Zimmerman, and their aunt, Sue Murphy, into the profession.

They continue to produce all of their shoes at the Orwigsburg plant, where a staff of about 15 makes dress shoes, boots, loafers, sandals and a variety of other footwear for infants through youth size 3 that it sells wholesale and also from its website direct to consumers.

The company produces about 30,000 pairs of shoes annually.

While most other shoe companies have moved their manufacturing offshore, the Zimmermans are proud to have kept their work local.

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Ken Seigfried prepares a shoe for a sole at Kepner Scott Shoe Company in Orwigsburg, Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025. The company was recently featured as an answer on Jeopardy! (MATTHEW PERSCHALL/MULTIMEDIA EDITOR)

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Audrey started Zimmerman Shoes in 2014, and the family recently purchased another shoe company called Markell Shoe Company that focuses on orthopedic children’s footwear, with both businesses under the parent company Kepner Scott.

She had told family and some friends that their Jeopardy! clue was pending, but for most who know them, it came as a surprise to see the company and the community mentioned on the show. Even those who didn’t see it live soon found out it about in on social media, and the family has been flooded with well wishers happy to see them get national exposure.

“People were posting, ‘I know that answer,’ and ‘I know where that is,’” Audrey said.

Other businesses named in the “In Good Company” category were Avon, supermarket chain Kroger, basket company Longaberger, and Lionel, maker of model trains.

“Orwigsburg is such a small borough, so it was nice to see it on there, and to see us too,” Audrey said.

The company monitors traffic on its website and soon after Jeopardy! aired, saw a big increase and traffic and a jump in sales, she said.