Jungle Jim's International Market

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"Jungle Jim's" redirects here. For other uses, see Jungle Jim (disambiguation).
Jungle Jim's International Market
IndustryGrocery store
Founded1971; 50 years ago (1971) in Hamilton, Ohio
Founder"Jungle" Jim Bonaminio
HeadquartersFairfield, Ohio,
United States
Number of locations
2
Area served
Cincinnati, Ohio
Websitejunglejims.com
Footnotes / references
[1]
A crowd gathers to watch Good Morning America's broadcast live from the seafood department of Jungle Jim's.

Jungle Jim's International Market, formerly Jungle Jim's Farmer's Market, is a large supermarket in Fairfield, Ohio, with a satellite location in Union Township, Clermont County, both near Cincinnati. The main location has been described as a theme park of food. Jungle Jim's is notable for one of the largest wine collections in the United States,[2] live seafood tanks, and an in-store cooking school. Each week, the store is visited by approximately 82,000 shoppers,[3] whom Bonaminio calls "foodies". Many of the specialty foods in the store's Asian and European departments are difficult to find elsewhere in the Greater Cincinnati area, and customers have been known to drive from other cities for the store's wide variety of food.

History[]

In 1971, "Jungle" Jim Bonaminio set up a semi-permanent produce stand in a parking lot in Hamilton, OH. Over the next three years, Bonaminio moved the stand to several vacant lots throughout the area until a plot of land was purchased. Due to the industrial zoning of the land, the city of Fairfield was reluctant to issue a permit for a commercial fruit and vegetable stand. After discussing an exception made for nearby fast food chain Arthur Treacher's, the city commission approved the permit. The first store opened in 1975 with 4,200 square feet of space. [4]

Bonaminio continued to expand the store to include more products, constantly adding on to and re-arranging the store. Customers of the store drove the continued expansion, requesting more products to add to the selection. [5]

Adult Oriented Hot Sauces

Theme[]

Jungle Jim's resembles a theme park due to the unusual displays throughout the store. At the entrance, animal replicas are accompanied by occasional roars and the splashing of a miniature waterfall in the background. Inside are several animatronic displays, such as a lion that sings Elvis Presley songs at regular intervals and a "rock band" composed of General Mills cereal mascots. Several of the animatronics, such as the lion, a human character named Pedro, and a trio of black birds, are former Pizza Time Theatre animatronics (the lion character was known as "The King" at PTT, and served the same purpose of singing Elvis songs). The miniature storefronts in Jungle Jim's' European section represent the architectural styles of various countries, and the Mexican section is covered by what appears to be the adobe façade and wooden frame of a cantina. The hot sauce section is topped with a fire truck, the English section themed to the sherwood forest, and Subtle humor is injected into many parts of the store, such as the trashcans once labeled "Jungle Junk," the "Adult Oriented Hot Sauces" section, and the restroom entrances disguised as Rumpke portable toilets. In 2007, the restrooms won the Cintas Best Restroom in America contest. Before Jungle Jim's doubled in size in the late 1990s, the store featured flags from many countries that were positioned throughout the store and automatically waved back and forth, to give it an "international" feel.

Expansion[]

Around 2004, Jungle Jim's added a strip mall on one side, including Hallmark and CiCi's Pizza. In January of 2020, an expansion of the front end of the store was announced, adding 17,000 more square feet to the store as well as new space for tenants. One confirmed new tenant is Graeter's ice cream. [6] In 1998, the store purchased the former "Lion Country Safari" monorail trains from Kings Island. A large Jungle-themed station featuring a giant snake façade was constructed behind the store and a second station was constructed at the Oscar Event Center to allow for guests to experience the monorail. Original plans called for the monorail to complete a circuit around the property, however, this has never been completed and unused supports still remain around the property. [7] In 2019, the store opened "The Oscar Station", a bourbon bar experience housed within the monorail station. [8]

Eastgate Location[]

On April 1, 2005, Bonaminio signed a letter of intent to open a second, smaller location closer to Cincinnati,[3] but by April 2007, the project was canceled due to a lack of progress at the site. On September 25, 2012, Jungle Jim's opened a second location at the former bigg's Place Mall in Eastgate.[9]

The Oscar Event Center[]

The Oscar Event Center is a 34,100 sq. ft event space attached directly to Jungle Jim's International Market. [10] Named after "Jungle" Jim's middle name, the event space opened in 2007. There are several venues within the event center: The Main Hall, The Lounge, The Outdoor Terrace, The Pub. [11] The event space hosts several yearly events, including: the International Craft Beer Festival, Weekend of Fire, International Wine Festival, Barrel-Aged Beer Bash, New Year New You, Big Cheese Festival, and Whiskey Night. [12]

Jungle Jim's has been featured on the Food Network show Unwrapped, the History Channel show Modern Marvels, and ABC News' Good Morning America.[2]

References[]

  1. ^ "The Jungle Jim Story". junglejims.com. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Supermarket Wars: Stores Use Dancing Animals, Size to Battle for Your Dollars". Good Morning America. ABC News. 2007-01-13. Retrieved 2007-01-13.
  3. ^ a b Bianco, Anthony (2005-04-18). "The Wizard Of Odd". BusinessWeek. McGraw-Hill. Archived from the original on 2007-05-02. Retrieved 2007-01-14.
  4. ^ "The Jungle Jim Story". Jungle Jim's International Market. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
  5. ^ Bednarski, Kristin. "History of Jungle Jim's makes it unique". The Clermont Sun. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
  6. ^ Schwartzberg, Eric. "Jungle Jim's expanding its Fairfield location with new tenants". Journal News. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
  7. ^ "Remembering the Kings Island Monorail". Coaster101. Retrieved 4 October 2021. |first1= missing |last1= (help)
  8. ^ "Jungle Jim's holds grand reopening for its new bourbon bar". WLWT5. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
  9. ^ Benson, Lisa (2010-10-08). "Jungle Jim's International Market to open new store". Cincinnati Business Courier. American City Business Journals. Retrieved 2011-03-26.
  10. ^ "Oscar Event Center". Get to the BC. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
  11. ^ "The Oscar Event Center". Jungle Jim's International Market. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
  12. ^ "Events at the Jungle". Jungle Jim's International Market. Retrieved 4 October 2021.

External links[]

Coordinates: 39°20′09″N 84°31′28″W / 39.33571°N 84.524342°W / 39.33571; -84.524342

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