Humble beginnings
Joseph Heinen was working in a butcher shop in the late 1920s when, dissatisfied with the quality of the product being sold and thinking that the wave of the future was to offer multiple grocery items and not just meat, he struck out on his own.
He opened his own butcher shop in 1929, and by 1933, opened Cleveland’s first supermarket on what is now Chagrin Boulevard.
Heinen had decided to go into business for himself at the beginning of the Great Depression. A hundred people lined up for every job, and customers who didn’t have the currency to pay for food could barter.
"He was very committed," says Tom Heinen. "He always wanted the best quality, and he always understood people. He understood that treating people right was the best thing to do when dealing with customers, but he also understood that your employees were the ones that could really make or break you."
By 1964, Heinen’s had grown to four stores, and the second generation came into the business and focused on growth.
"My dad (Jack) was really very focused on economies of size," says Heinen. "We were one of the first companies to build a warehouse with just four or five stores."
The company still distributes its own groceries as a way to control more of its supply chain.
Tom and Jeff joined the business in 1978 at age 23, and by 1981, Heinen’s opened its 11th store.
"We were one of five family-owned chains in Cleveland at the time," says Heinen, 48. "There were no big chains that dominated the market. In fact, Cleveland was a city that the big chains had left. The market was dominated by pretty successful family chains."
By 1990, Tom had been brought up through the ranks in the meat, bakery and deli departments, while Jeff had overseen produce, dairy and the grocery departments.
"Dad’s theory was you have to learn the business at the stores, because that’s where we earn our money," says Heinen. "He was very focused on that."
In 1994, Jack died. Tom and Jeff took over as co-presidents and continue to share that role today.
"Fortunately, and unbeknownst to the rest of the company, my brother and I had really been running the business for about four years," says Heinen. "We had started forming the direction of the company from the mid-’80s."
