Re: [CH] To the Jungle and Back
jim@wildpepper.com
Sun, 28 Oct 2001 10:35:00 -0500
To say that Jungle Jim's has an 'ethnic aisle' is an understatement ;-)
He just doesn't have a Chinese food section, he has a Cantonese section,
a Peking section, a Sezchwan section, etc. He doesn't just have a Thai
food section, he has a north Thai, central Thai, south Thai, etc. On
busy days he has someone who speaks the languages and the dialects to
help in those sections. It goes on like this for over 50,000 square
feet! Jungle Jim is something of an ecentric as well ;-) He bought
Kings' Islands' (an amusement park) old mono-rail 'just to have for
future use'. He has an ambulance that he stocks with gas (petrol) and
jumper cables that patrols the lot to help stranded motorists. Any
store that has an animitronic Elivs, Gorilla, and rock band definitely
fits into the 'unusual' category ;-) For years he bought palm trees
each and every summer, trucked up from Florida, to decorate the entrance
to the store- gives it that 'Jungle' look.
I first met him at the Fiery Foods Show a few years back. He wanted to
buy my fire helmet, asking if he bought 50 cases would I throw the
helmet in for free. I told him he was nuts, to which he replied 'thank
you'. I tried to explain that this was a REAL leather fire helmet (not
one of those imitation plastic ones that so many of my brethern wear)
and cost a few hundred dollars. He said he didn't care and he wanted
one. I ended up getting one for him and having the center shield made-
Jungle Jim Fire Dept- with a big number 1 in the center. Fool that I
am, I only charged him what it cost me. He still hasn't bought his 50
cases ;-)
Long story short- the store is definitely worth a trip out of the way!
-Jim C
Mild to Wild