“I’m always thinking about moving forward. I’m not too big on looking back,’’ Bonaminio said.
Through the years the rather modest original Dixie Highway store has grown to 283,385 square feet with separate areas for international foods by country. Thirteen years ago, a second store opened in Eastgate in the former Bigg’s Place Mall. It has 228,000 square feet.
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
The fun-loving store owner who still uses a flip phone is now developing a TikTok station inside his store to bring together items that go viral on social media.
“We’re interested in the fads – the stuff that’s on TikTok that’s really caught on. The kids are going crazy over certain items on Tik Tok. We would just gather it all up and put it in a TikTok store – nobody has a TikTok store,” Bonaminio said.
New ideas
In development is an AI powered curved screen – possibly with Jungle’s face.
“People would go up to and ask all different kinds of questions – ask where is so and so,” Bonaminio said. “The first one will be in the Eastgate wine department then we’ll probably have one in each store – maybe two. It would (understand) 40 different languages.”
Bonaminio said that he and his staff are continually coming up with new ideas to add unique products or displays to make it even more of a destination.
“All that stuff you do is a gamble because you’re betting on the future. We’re constantly looking at the future and seeing where it’s going to go,” Bonaminio said.
A cotton candy machine will soon be brought from the warehouse. But it’s not your typical machine. You put in a credit card and select how the sweet treat will be shaped.
“It can make one for Bengals, it can make flowers – it’s really cool,” Bonaminio says.
A refurbished wood casket will soon house products from Liquid Death products – after a sound system is added.
“The store represents the largest draw in Fairfield, attracting customers from greater Cincinnati and beyond. Anybody that’s ever gone into the store knows it’s an absolutely unique place. The level of creativity from him and his whole team is astounding,’’ said Greg Kathman, Fairfield’s director of development services.
“I love the creativity of the displays hanging from the roof and pillars. I would never think to buy an old fire truck and hang it over the hot sauce aisle – I mean how cool is that.”
Going with unique
Unique is what Bonaminio strives for. A Japanese Gashapon Bandai Official Shop is open in the Eastgate store. It features vending machines that offer an array of on-trend miniature collectibles and characters.
“You put in your $2, $4, $6, $8, and you get these things and you open them up and they’re collectible,” Bonaminio said.
“All I know is it’s unique. Nobody has it. It’s everywhere in Japan. Here there’s only a few.”
Within the store itself Bonaminio has allowed other vendors to set up displays to sell their products. BonBonerie bakery on Madison Road is one such business. A German pretzel company is coming to the Eastgate store and if successful, will be replicated in Fairfield.
“We’ve teamed up with Findlay Market. They bring products here on weekends. It a little unique spot,” said Joani Bonaminio, Jim’s wife of 51 years.
“We’re an incubator for a lot of businesses. I wish I knew all the small businesses that we gave an opportunity to.”
Growing the business
Through the years Bonaminio has bought land surrounding his store and now has about 80 acres to bring businesses to his sprawling complex along Dixie Highway.
“I gotta have a lot of ground available so I can play. If I don’t have the ground, I can’t play,” Bonaminio quips.
“That’s the future,’’ adds his son Jimmy. “He’s going to play as long as he can.”
Wife Joani is often his sounding board for many of his ideas, with Jungle making the final call.
“The decisions he makes are not typical and they’re not what a normal business owner would do. They’re sort of one off but they end up working,’’ Joanie said.
“He works hard to make them work and he has great people who buy into his vision.”
Among projects for his site are a hotel, adding 250 parking spaces, a commercial building with nine apartments above it, a store selling marijuana products, and expanding his warehouse, adding seven loading docks.
He’s planning to purchase a composter larger than the one at the Cincinnati Zoo where food waste – rinds, overripe tomatoes, scrap meat, cheese and other materials would be put on a conveyor belt into the machine where it is ground and comes out like dirt.
Through a partnership with another company, the material would be taken offsite, mixed with other materials and packaged as organic fertilizer that would be sold at Jungle Jim’s.
“If that hotel materializes then I’m going to build a connection between the (Oscar) station and the hotel,” Bonaminio said.
“And then I’ll go ahead and build a kitchen in that station so it can become a bourbon bar that’s open all the time. We’re constantly looking at the future and seeing where it’s going.”
Credit: Michael D. Pitman
Credit: Michael D. Pitman
Not ready to retire soon
Bonaminio says he has no plans to retire.
“We have more things in the works – a lot more than we had going on 10 years ago, 15 years ago, 20 years ago,’’ Bonaminio says.
“We have all kinds of things happening. We can’t get to them that quick. I wish we could.”
Anniversary activities
“This 50th is more of an acknowledgement of the community – almost like an affirmation we’ve been in business 50 years and celebrating that fact,’’ said Joani Bonaminio, who was on the planning committee.
“We’re letting things develop organically as they come up,’’ added son Jimmy.
“If someone has an idea, we say ‘That’s pretty cool, go for it.’ It’s an evolving thing.”
Below is what is planned:
- Lego sets with Jungle Jim’s custom pieces will periodically be raffled off and included in gift bags to vendors.
- Jungle Jim’s has partnered with HighGrain Brewing Company to create a fruited wheat ale called Fruit Stand in honor of his first venture selling fruits and vegetables out of a cart on street corners.
- Three Metro buses wrapped in Jungle Jim’s branding are traveling Hamilton County routes through the end of the year.
- A cloth tote bag featuring all the Jungle Jim’s logos was created
- Select items will be discounted to 1975 prices for short periods
- 50th anniversary displays featuring products in many departments are being created
- A hotline has been created where people can call and leave a voice message with favorite Jungle Jim’s memories. They will be aired on the store’s social media platforms and podcast. Call 513-674-6865 to leave your message.
As events are developed, they will be posted at www.junglejims.com/50
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