For the last decade, Jungle Jim’s has been trying to find a new location to expand and officials have been seeking a suitable property, Adams said.
“We wanted something close enough to the Fairfield location to be able to manage it,” said Adams, who has been with the company since 1985. “But yet far enough away that it will not impact our Fairfield location’s customer count.”
Through an agreement with the Union Twp. Board of Trustees, the township will purchase the property for $7.5 million, and Jungle Jim’s will repay the township a little more than $10 million over an eight-year span, Timothy Donnellon, Union Twp. Trustees chairman, said in October.
When the bigg’s lease expired in February, the owners of the property were headed toward bankruptcy and Jungle Jim’s took advantage, according to Adams.
“It was a perfect storm,” he said.
Construction has been under way since February, and the new store will feature an old Kings Island monorail, which will rest on a 170-foot-long railroad bridge purchased at a Fairfield auction, Adams said.
“It’s been a fun process putting this location together,” Adams said. “There aren’t too many auctions that have railroad bridges so you have to snatch them when you can.”
Adams said owner Jim Bonaminio wanted to see how strong the brand really was.
“We have the one store in Fairfield that gets a lot of attention, but we really never stepped out there and had a second location,” Adams said. “Is it going to hold water? We think so.”
The new store will employ approximately 350 people, Adams said. The Fairfield grocery currently employs 425 people, he said.
Contact this reporter at (513) 755-5112 or kelgazzar@coxohio.com.
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