By Sue Kiesewetter
Enquirer contributor

Jungle Jim's offers a variety of hard-to-find foods along with animated animals and other entertainment. (Enquirer file)

FAIRFIELD - Hardly a day goes by without someone asking about the monorail perched above Ohio 4 in front of Jungle Jim's International Market.

On Wednesday, owner Jim Bonaminio talked about the seven cars he bought for $1 from Paramount's Kings Island during the Fairfield Chamber of Commerce's Notable Neighbors luncheon series.

"I say, 'Holy mackerel what am I going to do with it?' They had already scrapped the tracks,'' Bonaminio said. "I buy a monorail and I don't know what I'm going to do. I just do these things. I love to junk."

"Junking" is what he calls his hobby - going to auctions and other places scavenging for "finds" that end up in his warehouse and eventually as part of displays in his market on his 64-acre complex.

"My people build almost everything on the grounds. I have a metal and woodworking shop on the grounds.''

At least two of the refurbished cars will be activated next spring as part of the Jungle's ongoing expansion.

It has already added a Starbucks, Fifth Third Bank, a greenhouse and, soon, a restaurant. Next month, ground will be broken for the next expansion - another 13 "one-of-a-kind" specialty shops.

Bonaminio's vision is to have the monorail take shoppers from a planned-events center to the store. Up to about 1,000 people could attend food conventions with guest chefs or food-related celebrities.

Despite the growth from a roofless produce stand in Hamilton in 1975 to today's 210,000-square-foot store in Fairfield, Bonaminio has kept sight of his local customer base - those within a three-to-five-mile radius of his store. Those loyal shoppers - he refers to them as "foodies" - allowed him to keep expanding. Now, they make up only 25 percent of his customers.

To make it easier for his local customer base, he has opened an area with its own entrance and check-out lines, featuring common supermarket items that families replenish weekly.

"I think I made the store too big, too fancy for my local customers," Bonaminio said.

His dream, Bonaminio says, "is to build 'Foodieland.'"

"Believe it or not, food is becoming a sport,'' he says. "I know, it's nuts."