“The stadium is wrapping up nicely,” Phill Adams, director of development for Jungle Jim’s International Market, said about one of the surprises that awaits shoppers. “The castle is almost complete.”
Adams teased some of the exciting details of the new market, but wouldn’t give away too much as many of the decorations and features remain a secret.
“There is a very unique fire truck for the hot sauce area,” Adams said. “But we couldn’t stop there, we had to have another feature that will blow people away.”
Exciting sights and sounds are abundant at Jungle Jim’s and shoppers already travel to the original market in Fairfield just to be a part of the the atmosphere.
The Fairfield Jungle Jim’s grew from a roadside market, founded in 1974 by owner “Jungle” Jim Bonaminio, to a store with more than 300,000 square feet and 150,000 products from more than 75 countries.
The new Jungle Jim’s will offer similar selection in a 400,000 square foot store.
Each area of the Eastgate store is distinct and color-coded by paint on the ceiling. Just like the Fairfield location, the store will feature international food, american grocery, meat, produce and natural food sections as well as a deli, bakery, cheese shop, olive bar seafood section and more.
The store will also feature an area with an extensive selection of wine, beer and more that has a separate entrance and exit for customers.
“You kind of have this vision in your head,” Adams said about the design of the new market. “It is there now.”
Many sections of the market are structurally complete with walls, shelving and refrigerators in place.
Crews are now working to customize each area, and decorating has begun, transforming the atmosphere of the once empty store.
Adams said the slowest part of the process thus far has been the facility renovations they had to complete in order to transform the former biggs grocery store into a space suitable for the market.
“Now that we’ve got it to the point we can do construction, it is moving along,” Adams said.
He said the have designed the store already knowing what worked and what didn’t work at their Fairfield market.
“Jungle knows what he wants and has been able to come up with stuff quickly,” Adams said about interior details of the market. “We’re after little details to make not only the customer, but the employees’ time comfortable.”
Adams said it has been interested creating the new market because they are doing everything at one time. He said the Fairfield location expanded gradually to be what it is today.
“Over the years in Fairfield it was a slow process,” Adams said. “Coming into this we have been able to go more quickly.”
Adams said they are also working on making sure everything runs smoothly outside the store.
“I think traffic is going to be the biggest challenge,” Adams said.
Adams said they are currently re-working access to Jungle Jim’s coming in from Eastgate South Drive and are finalizing changes to the front entrance.
“We are changing the way you get into and out of the property,” Adams said. “It should make for a cleaner traffic flow.”
He said he is also working with owners of surrounding businesses, as well as Union Township trustees, to prepare for potential traffic and parking concerns on opening day.
“We’re working on how we’re going to open,” Adams said.
Adams said they will not give an exact date of the grand opening until four to six weeks prior, but he believes they will open before noon on a Tuesday sometime this summer.
“Mid-summer sounds like forever to a lot of people,” Adams said about the grand opening. “But it feels like tomorrow for me.”
Adams said once they do open, many customers won’t want to come in ready to tackle their grocery list, but rather will want to come in to see what all of the hype is about.
“It’s kind of like an open house,” Adams said about the grand opening. “This is not your typical grocery.”
Find out more about Junge Jim’s International Market at www.junglejims.com.