A most unusual grocery

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), Feb 28, 2001

FAIRFIELD, Ohio (AP) -- Jungle Jim's International Farmers Market likes to call itself the most unusual grocery store in America, and it may be. From the fiberglass elephants out front to the mechanized Elvis lion, to the 17-foot shark over the seafood section, to the mini-theater where the story of owner "Jungle Jim" Bonaminio plays over and over, Jungle Jim's is a regional phenomenon.

Customers regularly come in from Columbus, Louisville, Ky., and Indianapolis, marketing director Sarah Baumann said. "Ethnic foods are very hot right now and continuing to grow," said Todd Hultquist of the Food Marketing Institute in Washington, D.C. "A number of factors are driving that, especially changing demographics... and the American palate is becoming more sophisticated, mainly because of the baby boomers. It used to be that Mexican and Chinese food were considered exotic. Now Indian, Thai and Middle Eastern foods are very popular, and Japanese sushi is one of the hottest trends." Hultquist said the average grocery store has about 40,000 square feet. Jungle Jim's has 180,000 square feet. Bonaminio is planning a 60,000-square- foot expansion.

Bonaminio, 51, started with a roadside vegetable stand while in college. He opened Jungle Jim's in 1975, expanded several times and added items that people wanted and couldn't easily get. Now with a store covering four acres, he can devote a whole aisle to hot sauces, stock hundreds of kinds of beer and display an international selection of 1,600 cheeses. There are aisles devoted to Japanese, Chinese, Philippine and other ethnic foods. Mexican foods get a double aisle, European imports a larger area and Italian foods an entire section.

Bonaminio, gliding around the store on a scooter, stops to admire a display of durian fruit from Thailand. If left unrefrigerated, the pineapple-like fruit smells so bad that Asian airline pilots have been known to refuse to fly with it on the plane. But if customers want the fruit, Bonaminio will stock it. "Sold 78 of them Saturday at 10 bucks a pop," he said.

Anti-advertising

NEW YORK (NYT) -- Anxious advertisers are studying a myriad of methods to encourage visits to their World Wide Web sites, but few have considered a multimedia campaign to urge computer users to not visit their Web sites. But one big media company is undertaking just such an exercise in reverse psychology, with apparent success so far.

ESPN, the sports cable television network owned by Walt Disney, is sponsoring a humorous campaign centered on a faux Web site that asks visitors to avoid the ESPN Web site (www.espn.com). The let's- pretend site was created along with the campaign by the Marina del Rey, Calif., office of Ground Zero, a shop known for its irreverent work that is among several on the ESPN agency roster.

The idea to use a forbidden-fruit ploy to drive traffic to a Web site is indicative of the elaborate tactics marketers are using to appeal to specialized segments of the general consumer market, particularly those growing more sophisticated as they grow more resistant to traditional ad pitches. "It's kind of inside," Court Crandall, creative partner at Ground Zero, said of the campaign, which includes television commercials, print and banner ads and the real-but-fake site. "If you get the joke, you really appreciate it."

Defying the downturn

BRANSON, Mo. (AP) -- Branson is getting spruced up with $16 million worth of improvements in time for spring. Plans for theaters, restaurants, hotels and new attractions in the popular southwestern Missouri entertainment center have business owners scrambling to complete work before the tourism season begins.

Although last year was lean for some businesses, with a scorching summer and early winter, entrepreneurs are optimistic. Jim Thomas, who built the Lodge of the Ozarks in 1989, says he is investing about $1 million in renovating the 191-room hotel. "I've decided to stop looking at business in Branson from the negative side," Thomas said. "If you can't do business in a town where we have 7 million visitors a year, you shouldn't be in business."

Branson's business economy was mixed last season. Visitors at Silver Dollar City were down about 5 percent, while sales tax revenue was up 4.8 percent. Tourism tax was up 1.96 percent, while revenue from theaters and campgrounds was down from 1999. Those figures haven't discouraged plans for Branson's facelift. A $13 million roller coaster called Wildfire opens this spring and is said to be Silver Dollar City's priciest investment in corporate history. Also coming is Branson's first indoor water park that Glenn and Venus Robinson, who opened Grand Country Square and the 76 Music Hall, spent nearly $500,000 this winter to build. It will feature a multilevel treehouse with water games, a river and water slides. The park, called Splash Country Indoors, will adjoin the Splash Country outdoor park they built last year behind the Grand Country Inn.

Other restaurants in the area have expanded seating to accommodate more customers and some hotels have spent thousands to increase the amount of amenities available for guests.