When Jim Anderson joined the United Nations more than twenty years ago, he never dreamed that he would one day be running a British shop in St. Genis, France, just across the border from Geneva.

Jim started out as a policeman in Manchester, England. Later on he transferred to the United Nations where he rose to become Deputy Head of Security. He left the UN in July 1995 after a distinguished career. "I just started to realize that there was another life outside the UN," he says.

After leaving the UN, Jim was ready for something new. He had always been impressed by the lengths to which his compatriots would go to bring back their favorite foods from England, and one sleepless night as he lay pondering his future, the inspiration came to him to open a small market specializing in British food products.

Once the idea hit, it wouldn't let go. "I became obsessed with it," explains Jim. "I decided to head to the UK with my son. We found a source of products, filled up half the van and brought it back. I remember saying to my son that we would never sell all that stuff."

But sell it they did. "Before we opened I did a lot of advanced advertising in the local media. I'll never forget opening day on April 2, 1996. I was totally nervous while I was getting the store ready. Then when I opened the front door, I couldn't believe it. The parking lot was jammed with cars. People queued around the store and all the way out onto the pavement." Jim searches for words to describe his amazement. "They were like locusts. Within one week we were cleaned out!" Since then food deliveries have arrived from Britain on a regular basis.

Jim is no newcomer to Geneva's international community, but most would be surprised to learn that this easy-going, soft-spoken Irishman had formerly worked in places like Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, all in the line of duty while working for the UN.

On the wall of his back office is a map of Alexandra, the black Johannesburg township where he was stabbed by a gang of local youths who were trying to steal his car. "And they did steal it," Jim says indignantly. His right arm still bears the scar. It could have been worse but for Jim's quick reaction. "I was an Olympic sprinter that day."

Jim's favorite UN mission was to Rio to arrange security for 130 Heads of State attending the World Environmental Summit in 1992. While there, he met Brazilian soccer star Pele, Shirley McLaine, Jane Fonda and Ted Turner, as well as acompanying Olivia Newton-John on a two hour shopping trip. "It was fantastic," he recalls. "But, it was damned hard work."

These days Jim is occasionally accompanied to the Mini-Market by his son's dog, Karun. Karun is a big, good-natured Bouvier Bernois, a Swiss mountain rescue dog. Karun loves to come to the shop and get spoiled by Jim and his customers. You can tell when Karun is near by the tell-tale water bowl outside the front door.

The British Mini-Market has expanded and Jim attributes the store's success to listening to what people want and need. "I note their requests, and I try to get them," he affirms. He must be doing something right, because this friendly little English shop is fast becoming an institution among Geneva's expatriate community.