The New Jungle Jim's

Earlier this evening we headed up to the new Jungle Jim's store on the east side of Cincinnati.  If you're not from the Cincinnati area or haven't visited, you're probably a little confused.  Jungle Jim's is a fantastic store that evolved from a fruit stand several decades ago.  It bills itself as an "international market" and indeed does have food from all over the world within its doors.  You can see a movie all about Jungle Jim and his store when you visit either location.

Jungle Jim Story 

James O. Bonaminio was born in 1949 in Lorain Ohio, 30 miles outside of Cleveland. His father, Clem, was a steelworker; his mother, Marie, a housewife and sometime saleswoman. For a while, she peddled Fuller brushes door to door. Pushing a baby buggy, she discovered, was a terrific ice-breaker. Jim swears he remembers hearing sales pitches from inside the carriage... 

By the time Jim was 6, he was eager to start earning money for himself. He began by offering to do odd jobs for neighbors. By age 13 he was collecting golf balls from a nearby course, scrubbing and then selling them to avid golfers...
--from Jungle Jim website, Jungle Jim Story section

The original store is located north of Cincinnati and is a place that out-of-town visitors and new arrivals (e.g. new museum employees) get taken to.  There is an eclectic mix of decorations along with all of the fantastic items from around the world available for sale.  I've been there several times over the years that I've lived in Cincinnati.  Tonight Amy and I headed to the new store, located in the area of Eastgate.  It takes about the same amount of time to get to, but it is right off the highway, so I think it is actually shorter in some ways.  It was evening, but not quite dark, when we arrived.

One of the stores in the adjoining strip mall (also owned by Jungle Jim's) had some interesting signs up during construction.

Inside we found the restrooms pretty quickly, unlike the other location they're fairly near the front doors, but they're decorated just as nicely.

The hot sauce area in the other store has a red fire truck positioned over it, so at this location a US Navy fire truck fulfills the same purpose.

I like looking through the British area and finding interesting products that sound just a tad bit off to American ears and sensibilities.

Though I definitely pass on Vegemite and Marmite--both are quite nasty!

In the drinks area this flavored water sported a very interesting container.  You can't see it in this picture, but the top of this "bottle" is a regular can's pop top.  The bottom is very definitely plastic, like a 2-liter bottle (but smaller).

You do know when you get back to the "regular" American areas.

The seafood section isn't quite done, but I understand it will open before the end of the year.

Do you want some honey?  From what the in-store literature said most of these decorations were recycled from other areas or attractions instead of being built from scratch.  It sounds like the best sort of recycling to me.

Of course there was plenty of produce, we even picked up some bananas for only 39¢ a pound.

The cheese section is one of my favorite areas to browse through, but I never know what to buy.  I'm willing to experiment with cheese, but don't really want to buy something I'll hate.

I've bought a couple cheeses I didn't love, but they were good enough that I finished most of them.  Sometime I need to talk to someone who really knows cheese and figure out what kinds I might like based on the ones I already know that I enjoy.

I do know that I won't be buying this three-year aged cheddar from Canada, at least not the big block.  Can you guess at its cost?

Can you read that price?  That block is over $280!

We only walked through the candy section, without buying anything, but it was certainly full of fun decorations.

I remember Alvin and the Chipmunks being quite popular when I was a kid many years ago.

There were plenty of checkout lanes when we came to the end of the store.

I think this was a bus stop outside.

 And this is a vintage toned version of the picture I took of the monorail over the entrance.

All in all it was a fun little trip and something to definitely recommend when you're in the Cincinnati area.  Whether you're a Jungle Jim's old-timer or have ever been, you should definitely check it out at least once!

~Matt