Heinen's

Heinen's is a Cleveland-area institution, a grocer of such reputation for freshness and quality that it hasn't had to worry about distinguishing itself from Wal-Mart and other hypermarkets.

But when it built a new store in Cleveland's upscale Brecksville suburb, well south of its main consumer base, it felt the need to throw all its distinguishing qualities – for meat, seafood, produce and prepared “meal solutions” – into one 63,000-square-foot space.

“This store has all the things Heinen's thought it should have in its stores,” says architect Bill Eberhard, principal-in-charge of Cleveland-based Oliver Design Group.

The outside of the L-shaped store, adopting Federalist/Western Reserve architecture that reflected the old New England heritage of the area, was the easy part. Inside was trickier, in a footprint roughly twice the size of the typical Heinen's.

“It has a lot of new departments,” notes Eberhard, “and substantial meat and seafood counters. It was an attempt to say to Brecksville, 'We have everything.' ”

Wood vinyl floors produce the market-like appearance designers were after, and wooden trellises in the produce department reinforce the European market feel.

“And,” says Eberhard, “we light the daylights out of the product.”

That included halogen MR-16s on the produce, bathing the product in light but not in heat; a new type of ceramic arc metal halides that produce a Color Rendering Index of 96; and large windows that provide up to 60 foot-candles of natural light. “We have two rows of HIDs along the perimeter that are on photo cells,” says Eberhard. “When the natural light is at its fullest, these HIDs don't go on. The cost savings are, of course, considerable.”

Client: Heinen's Inc., Cleveland

Design: Oliver Design Group, Cleveland

Outside Design Consultants: PFDI, Cleveland
Clive Samuels & Associates, Princeton, N.J.

Architect: City Architecture, Cleveland

General Contractor: Darden Co., Cleveland

A/V ceilings: Ceilings Plus, Los Angeles
Armstrong World Industries Inc., Lancaster, Pa.

Fixtures and Awings: Astrup Co., Cleveland
Hill Phoenix, Conyers, Ga.
HEWI, Bad Arolsen, Germany

Vinyl Flooring: Amtico Intl., Atlanta
Norament, Lawrence, Mass.
Johnsonite, Chagrin Falls, Ohio

Carpeting: Collins & Aikman, Troy, Mich.

Café Seatings: Lowenstein, Pompano Beach, Fla.

Café Tables: Johnson Tables, Trumbull, Conn.

Lighting: Juno Lighting Group, Des Plaines, Ill.
Holophane, Newark, Ohio
Norbert Belfer, Farmingdale, N.J.
Lithonia, Conyers, Ga.

Props and Decoratives: Hattenbach, Cleveland

Signage/Graphics: CPI Intl., Santa Rosa, Calif.

Photography: Dan Cunningham, Arlington, Va.