Heinen's catering to downtown markets
Early success of East 9th Street store has added to amenities city has to offer, visitors say
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Photo by HEINEN'S
It has been almost a year since Heinen’s opened its downtown supermarket in the historic Cleveland Trust Building. Tom Heinen, who owns the grocery chain along with his twin brother, Jeff, is happy with the impact his new store has had on both Cleveland’s image as well as the company’s bottom line, even if there’s still room for improvement.
“It’s doing better than my worst fear and not as great as my greatest hope,” said Heinen, somewhat tongue-in-cheek.
The 27,000-square-foot store on the corner of East 9th Street and Euclid Avenue, which welcomed its first shoppers on Feb. 25, 2015, is performing as projected in a downtown continuing to cultivate its residential base, Heinen said.
“Urban stores by definition cater to smaller basket sizes, prepared foods and people looking for quick-meal solutions,” he said. “It’s a good location, even if we’re a little ahead of the population.”
Making a commitment
Heinen’s has 18 Cleveland-area locations, with a 26,000-foot-store set to open in Chagrin Falls this fall. The $600 million company, a third-generation grocery business founded in 1929 by Joe Heinen, has four other stores in suburban Chicago. Although the downtown Cleveland store is the chain’s only urban location, its early success has helped reinforce Heinen’s as the region’s longtime local grocer.
“People want to get back to basics by supporting local food,” Tom Heinen said. “We made a commitment to the city and got some great publicity by going downtown.”
A foray into the heart of Cleveland has come with a learning curve, he added. Apartments with limited kitchen facilities mean shoppers may need hints on how to prepare a steak or other items over an electric burner. Display cases in the store’s central rotunda packed with meat, fish and prepared foods can be great places for downtown’s young professionals to get cooking advice.
“In the millennial lifestyle, there may not be as much cooking from raw ingredients,” Heinen said. “We’re adapting to what our customers are telling us.”
Andrew Zelman, 33, visits the downtown Heinen’s a couple of days a week for lunch or to grab an easily prepared meal.
“There was such a big hole on that corner,” Zelman said.
“Now it’s both a grocery store and an attraction.”
Zelman, who has lived downtown with his wife, Shannon, for three years, previously shopped at the West Side Market or Constantino’s Market in the Warehouse District.
A centrally situated, full-service shopping experience is critical for a metro aiming to increase its population to 25,000 within 10 years, he believes.
“This store is another checkmark that Cleveland didn’t have previously,” Zelman said.
A unique destination
Heinen’s has no current plans to expand into other urban centers, according to its owners. Instead, the company will take additional steps in making its downtown store a unique destination.
A second-floor mezzanine, for example, will continue to be a wine- and beer-tasting area with cafe tables and banquets.
While traditional grocery shelves and aisles draw the everyday shopper, area office workers can enjoy lunch under a stained glass-topped ceiling as live music drifts down from above.
Johnson came to buy groceries but stayed to enjoy a glass of wine while gazing at the store’s distinctive architecture and artwork.
“This is bringing a culture and sophistication downtown,” Johnson said of the refurbished 1908 Cleveland landmark.
The $10 million-plus store can also serve as an anchor for a population expected to balloon to 18,000 within the next two years, said Michael Deemer, executive vice president of business development with the Downtown Cleveland Alliance.
More than 300 apartment units came online in 2015 alone, with mixed-use residential projects including the 925 Building on Euclid Avenue currently in the works.
Retail development like a new furniture store on East Ninth Street and a 4,200-square-foot clothing and activewear store next to Heinen’s can be viewed as spinoffs of the urban supermarket, Deemer maintained.
“The store’s presence is becoming a key piece to the amenity package Cleveland offers,” he said.
Preserving the building’s historic nature and charming design does not mean the Heinens have lost sight of the bigger picture, however.
“We’re still a grocery store,” Tom Heinen said.
“You can’t develop downtown living without the basics. We’re very excited to be here.”
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