The Man Himself, Jungle Jim

Did you know the original supermarket, Jungle Jim's, is 50 years old? Jungle Jim’s is a well-known grocery store in Union Township. It's famous for its vast collection of international foods and unique shopping experience. The man behind this iconic supermarket is “Jungle” Jim Bonaminio, who has an interesting story that reflects his passion for food and creativity.

In 1949, Jim O Bonaminio was born. He was born in Lorain, Ohio. His parents worked hard at their jobs. His dad was a steelworker and his mom was a saleswoman. His mom would roll him around house to house in a stroller as she worked. So by the time Jim was six he already wanted to make money by himself. He started trying to get jobs by asking his neighbors to do simple jobs for some cash. When Jim turned 19 he bought a big truck for 50 dollars and turned it into a garage sale on wheels.

Eventually Jim set up a temporary produce stand, However everyone passed by him and stopped at produce stands that had someone they recognized working there. He was about to give up on his stand and find something new to do, then he got a call about a guy who wanted to sell 45,000 pounds of potatoes. The guy was selling these potatoes for 150 dollars. Jim had an idea pop up in his head, and he agreed to buying the potatoes. He set up his stand and made a sign, selling the potatoes for 75 cents for 20 pounds of potatoes. From what we heard from the creative designer, Zack Cobb, a little boy named Dennis came up to Jim’s stand and started helping him bag and weigh the potatoes, along with a couple of other 10 year olds.

Jim set up his first semi-permanent produce stand in 1971. He stayed there almost all of his time for awhile since he worked 21 hours a day selling produce. He as well slept there and showered with a hose, yikes. When his stand closed he had to find a new place to sell produce. He repeated this same process several other times. Open lots that no one noticed were becoming very popular once Jim bought them, he was becoming a hit.

Finally, Jim found the land he wanted to purchase to make his first grocery store, in 1974. The names of the people who were selling this land are Jim Ivers and Bruce Cunagin. They wanted to sell it but Jim had only offered a 10,00 dollar down payment, which wasn't enough. He needed a co-signer, however he didn't want his parents to be one of the co-signer’s. Then Bruce's mother offered to co-sign it. He as well had Esther Benzing, who was the president of Fairfield’s planning commission. Then finally Jim got the land.

We interviewed the creative director, Zack Cobb, to get more information on Jim.

What inspired Jim to include different cultures in the store?

When Jim first started his fruit stand he had people from all over the nation coming to shop with him. Cobb says, “Customers asked him for it, he built what customers wanted”. Jungle Jim’s is also the first store in the United States to sell kiwis, in 1974 they had no kiwi or other exotic fruits. I’m honestly pretty impressed by the diversity. Most stores don’t do stuff like this. Well, there is the occasional product, but that’s usually it. Jim, however, took it a step further. He listened to his customers and now there’s whole aisles filled with stuff from Asia, Europe, you know the works. All in all, there are at least 70 countries represented in Jungle Jim’s. That amount of diversity is honestly insane! In a good way, I mean.

Has Jim ever had any close calls while Jungle Jims was just starting out?

According to Cobb, one of the most famous stories regarding any “close calls” was when he wanted to get his first piece of land. He needed to have a cosigner, and he didn’t want his parents to be put in harm's way. The judge for the case cosigned Jim’s loan. Cobb also notes that Jim wanted to put a sign for the store one time, but he couldn’t since the store was near a highway and the sign would have been a distraction for drivers. However, he was allowed to plant trees and other plants, so he decided to use palm trees to try to get some attention for the store. He shipped them from Florida to Ohio and planted them into the ground until it became too expensive to get any more palm trees. However, Jim didn’t stop there. He used fake palm trees instead and managed to get enough attention for the city to eventually let him have his sign. There are still fake palm trees in the Jungle Jim’s in Fairfield. Maybe if you go to the Fairfield side, you’ll be able to see them.

Have there ever been times when Jim wanted to give up?

“Absolutely not.” says Cobb. Seven days a week, Jim is always there. This just shows how passionate he is about the store, if it wasn’t already obvious by the fact that he planted literal palm trees in order for his store to get attention. It’s pretty obvious that throughout the years, Jim has put a lot of work into the store. And he doesn’t seem to be stopping any time soon. I mean, the guy only takes one month off a year to see his family. If he ever gets bored he’ll just build something new. He’s always wanting to make Jungle Jim’s bigger. It’s obvious that Jim is not someone who would give up so easily. He quite literally got his name “Jungle Jim” because of his hardworking nature and rugged appearance.

Do you know where Fanny Cunagin and Esther Benzing are now?

Although Cobb doesn’t know where those two are right now, he does say that one of their oldest workers, Dennis Ante, retired just last year. As mentioned before, Ante has been working at the store for 56 years ever since he was 11-years-old helping out at the produce stand. I don’t think I could work at a place for that long. But, as Cobb says, everyone’s different. I mean, some people probably would be happy to work there especially if they were there from the beginning. I can see why some people might stay, you know, cause they might want to see it grow further. Cobb says he thinks that might’ve been why Ante stayed. To help Jim make Jungle Jim’s grow.

Do you think Jim feels proud of what he accomplished?

Cobb says Absolutely. Jungle Jim’s is the 28th most visited grocery in the world as of right now. Jim has also donated to local food banks and spoke out during the war that happened in Ukraine, inviting people who were affected to stay in his house. Jim is pretty eager to serve his community. You can see he’s not only a good store owner, but a good person at heart.

What does he plan on doing with the store in the future

“I think right now, we’re really just trying to focus on helping customers shop [in the] store.” says Cobb. He says that Jungle Jim’s has launched an app to help customers search for any items online, which is apparently a huge deal for the store! I mean, I can see why, considering the size of the place. Right now, Jungle Jim’s is just focusing on the next 50 years of the store, which by then it would probably be its 100th anniversary. Let’s not look that far yet, though. They’re also trying to get as much knowledge as they can from Jim so they can ultimately push him towards eventually handing the store over to the future generation.

All in all, I’m really glad Cobb was able to let me interview him. It was really interesting to learn more about Jim, especially since I wouldn’t be able to know about most of this stuff if I searched it up online. Make sure to visit Jungle Jim’s. It’s really such an amazing place.