Jungle Jim's International Market
Encyclopedia
Supermarket
A supermarket, a form of grocery store, is a self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments...
in Fairfield, Ohio
Fairfield, Ohio
Fairfield is a city in Butler County in the U.S. state of Ohio, near Cincinnati. Fairfield was incorporated in 1955. The population was 42,510 at the 2010 census. The city school district is one of the largest in Ohio, with Fairfield High School graduating 842 students in June 2009. Fairfield is...
, near Cincinnati. It has been described as a theme park
Amusement park
thumb|Cinderella Castle in [[Magic Kingdom]], [[Disney World]]Amusement and theme parks are terms for a group of entertainment attractions and rides and other events in a location for the enjoyment of large numbers of people...
of food. Founded in 1971 by "Jungle" Jim Bonaminio, the store started as a small produce stand, and has grown to over 180,000 items, about 60,000 which are international items, and over 300,000 square feet (6½ acre
Acre
The acre is a unit of area in a number of different systems, including the imperial and U.S. customary systems. The most commonly used acres today are the international acre and, in the United States, the survey acre. The most common use of the acre is to measure tracts of land.The acre is related...
s or 26,000 square meters) of floorspace. Jungle Jim's is notable for one of the largest wine collections in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, live seafood tanks, and an in-store cooking school. Each week, the store is visited by approximately 82,000 shoppers, whom Bonaminio calls "foodie
Foodie
Foodie is an informal term for a particular class of aficionado of food and drink. The word was coined in 1981 by Paul Levy and Ann Barr, who used it in the title of their 1984 book The Official Foodie Handbook.- Distinguished from gourmet :...
s". Many of the specialty foods in the store's Asian
Asian cuisine
Asian cuisine styles can be broken down into several tiny regional styles that have roots in the peoples and cultures of those regions. The major types can be roughly defined as East Asian with its origins in Imperial China and now encompassing modern Japan and the Korean peninsula; Southeast Asian...
and European
European cuisine
European cuisine, or alternatively Western cuisine, is a generalised term collectively referring to the cuisines of Europe and other Western countries...
departments are difficult to find elsewhere in the Greater Cincinnati
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky metropolitan area
The Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky metropolitan area is a metropolitan area that includes counties in the U.S. states of Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, centered around the city of Cincinnati, Ohio. The United States Census defines the metropolitan area as the Cincinnati-Middletown Metropolitan...
area, and customers have been known to drive from other cities for the store's wide variety of food.
Audio-Animatronics
Audio-Animatronics is the registered trademark for a form of robotics created by Walt Disney Imagineering for shows and attractions at Disney theme parks, and subsequently expanded on and used by other companies. The robots move and make noise, generally in speech or song...
displays, such as a lion that sings Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
songs at regular intervals and a "rock band" composed of General Mills
General Mills
General Mills, Inc. is an American Fortune 500 corporation, primarily concerned with food products, which is headquartered in Golden Valley, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis. The company markets many well-known brands, such as Betty Crocker, Yoplait, Colombo, Totinos, Jeno's, Pillsbury, Green...
cereal mascots. 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
Adobe
Adobe is a natural building material made from sand, clay, water, and some kind of fibrous or organic material , which the builders shape into bricks using frames and dry in the sun. Adobe buildings are similar to cob and mudbrick buildings. Adobe structures are extremely durable, and account for...
façade and wooden frame of a cantina
Cantina
Cantina is a word that can refer to various places and establishments. It is similar in etymology to "canteen", and is derived from the Italian word for a cellar, winery, or vault.Cantinas are found in many towns of Italy...
. 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 toilet
Portable toilet
Portable toilet are simple portable enclosures containing a chemical toilet which are typically used as a temporary toilet for construction sites and large gatherings and events. Most of the portable toilets have black open-front-U-shaped toilet seat with cover...
s. In 2007, the restrooms won the Cintas
Cintas
Cintas Corporation , based in Mason, Ohio, is a publicly traded company that operates more than 400 facilities throughout North America. The company provides specialized services to businesses, including the design and manufacturing of corporate identity uniform programs, entrance mats, restroom...
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.
With its latest expansion, Jungle Jim's has added a strip mall
Strip mall
A strip mall is an open-area shopping center where the stores are arranged in a row, with a sidewalk in front. Strip malls are typically developed as a unit and have large parking lots in front...
on one side, including Starbucks
Starbucks
Starbucks Corporation is an international coffee and coffeehouse chain based in Seattle, Washington. Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse company in the world, with 17,009 stores in 55 countries, including over 11,000 in the United States, over 1,000 in Canada, over 700 in the United Kingdom, and...
, Hallmark
Hallmark Cards
Hallmark Cards is a privately owned American company based in Kansas City, Missouri. Founded in 1910 by Joyce C. Hall, Hallmark is the largest manufacturer of greeting cards in the United States. In 1985, the company was awarded the National Medal of Arts....
, and CiCi's Pizza
CiCi's Pizza
CiCi's Pizza is an American buffet restaurant chain based in Coppell, Texas, specializing in pizza. There are approximately 600 franchised and corporately owned restaurants in 35 states...
locations. Running outside is a reconditioned Lion Country Safari Monorail from the former Wild Animal Habitat at Kings Island
Kings Island
Kings Island is a amusement park located northeast of Cincinnati in Mason, Ohio. Opened in 1972 by Taft Broadcasting Company and now owned by Cedar Fair Entertainment Company, Kings Island is the most visited seasonal amusement park in the U.S...
. The Oscar Event Center, a 15,000-square-foot (1,400 m²) space for wine tastings and concerts alike, opened in 2007. On April 1, 2005, Bonaminio signed a letter of intent to open a second, smaller location closer to Cincinnati
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
. But by April 2007, the project was canceled due to a lack of progress at the site. In 2012, Jungle Jim's plans to open a second location at the former bigg's
Remke Markets bigg's
Remke Markets bigg's is a chain of supermarkets in the Cincinnati metropolitan area. Beginning in 1897 as a meat market in Covington, KY by William Remke, the supermarket has grown since then and now has 14 locations....
Place Mall in Eastgate
Glen Este, Ohio
Glen Este is an unincorporated area of Union Township, in Clermont County, Ohio.- History :Glen Este, Ohio is named for early resident David K. Este, who owned a farm near the intersection of Glen Este-Withamsville Road and the railroad tracks, now State Route 32...
.
Jungle Jim's has been featured on the Food Network
Food Network
Food Network is a television specialty channel that airs both one-time and recurring programs about food and cooking. Scripps Networks Interactive owns 70 percent of the network, with Tribune Company controlling the remaining 30 percent....
show Unwrapped
Unwrapped
Unwrapped is an American television program on Food Network that reveals the origins of foods. It first aired in June 2001 and is hosted by Marc Summers. The show leads viewers on tours of factories and other food-related locations. Popular subjects include candy, breakfast cereal, snacks, and TV...
, the History Channel show Modern Marvels
Modern Marvels
Modern Marvels is a documentary television series that premiered on January 1, 1995 on History. The program focuses on how technologies affect and are used in today's society....
,as well as ABC News
ABC News
ABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
' Good Morning America
Good Morning America
Good Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...
.
External links
- Jungle Jim's International Market
- The Oscar Event Center
- Photos of Jungle Jim's at FlickrFlickrFlickr is an image hosting and video hosting website, web services suite, and online community that was created by Ludicorp in 2004 and acquired by Yahoo! in 2005. In addition to being a popular website for users to share and embed personal photographs, the service is widely used by bloggers to...
– founder Jim Bonaminio discusses the store's history for WCET-TV - kicentral.com/history/monorail