‘Quality product and quality service’: Heinen’s grocery store coming to Naperville

A new Heinen’s doesn’t come along very often.

With deep roots in Ohio, the family-owned grocer unveiled its first Illinois store in Barrington in 2012. Heinen’s expanded into a handful of other affluent suburbs — stores in Glenview, Bannockburn and Lake Bluff followed in 2014 — and now a new one is taking shape across from the Naperville Country Club golf course.

“Heinen’s is a family-run business. They're not owned by a large conglomerate like Kroger or Albertsons,” said David Bishop, a partner at Barrington-based Brick Meets Click, an analytics and consultancy firm to the grocery industry.

In Naperville, the former Butera market was demolished to pave the way for the construction of a roughly 46,000-square-foot Heinen’s store along Chicago Avenue. It’s expected to open later this year.

“They're very much a traditional supermarket, at least for those who remember traditional supermarkets having plenty of front-end staff, including baggers, to help you and even walk your stuff to your car,” Bishop said. “That's what Heinen’s still does. So where they really differentiate against a big retailer like Walmart, who's going to win on price, they win on quality product and quality service.”

Heinen’s customers can shop online for delivery or curbside pickup. But what really differentiates them versus their competitors “is not necessarily what they do online, but rather what they do in the store,” Bishop said.

“Their prices are competitive to Jewel, which is our primary store because it's simply closer to our house,” said Bishop, who lives in Barrington. “But when we want those center-plate dishes or fresh products, we generally turn to Heinen’s.”

The Naperville Heinen’s marks the company’s 24th store. Still, Heinen’s prices are comparable to grocers that are part of much larger conglomerates, Bishop noted.

“They do a very good job offering fair, competitive prices versus other supermarkets,” he said. “And they have a value proposition that compels someone to not just drive by other supermarkets, but maybe consider them versus Walmart, because, frankly, no one else has what they have, which is the combination of quality product and service.”

The company traces its history to Joe Heinen opening a butcher shop in Shaker Heights, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland.

Heinen’s marked its 95th anniversary in business in 2024, Joe’s grandson told Naperville’s planning and zoning commission last year.

“We are a small company for our industry, and we do not open new stores very often as we really, as a company, strive to be better, not bigger,” Jeff Heinen said at the time. “We are a neighborhood store, meaning that our draw radius is about four miles, as opposed to a lot of stores that draw from a much wider area.”

When shoppers go into a Heinen’s, they’re immersed in the produce department, Bishop said. The prepared foods department helps folks trying to answer the question, “What’s for dinner?”

“They have a little sushi bar, and then they have a great meat and seafood department, with a lot of fresh items,” said Bishop, adding that they have a knowledgeable staff. “They're really engaging with the guests.”

The Naperville project is being led by Novak Construction Co., with architectural design provided by AoDK Architecture.