CLEVELAND, Ohio — Heinen’s Grocery Store, which operates 19 locations across Cleveland area, is one of the top supermarkets in the country, according to rankings recently published by Consumer Reports.

The non-profit consumer organization rated 96 grocery stores chains, warehouse clubs and super centers across the country, using 2018 survey results from 75,000 of its members. The survey respondents provided their takes on the one or two grocers they go to most frequently, according to Consumer Reports.

Heinen’s ranked No. 3 nationally, receiving a reader score of 89 out of 100.

“It’s considered among the top in the nation,” Consumer Reports Senior Money Editor Tobie Stanger said in an interview.

The family-run company’s co-owners Jeff and Tom Heinen attributed “this national recognition to the dedicated, service-focused store associates and regional and local growers who help create a differentiated shopping experience with an emphasis on the freshest products,” according to a news release.

Jeff Heinen in a statement added that he was pleased “for our company to be recognized as outstanding in the quality of our products and for our customer service."

The store received excellent marks for the cleanliness of its stores, checkout speed, its produce quality and variety and its meat and poultry quality. It also received high marks for its selection of local goods. It received a mediocre score for the competitiveness of its prices.

“It’s a paradox that some of the stores that are mostly highly rated were not particularly competitive in pricing,” Stanger said, with Trader Joe’s being the exception to that rule.

“While our readers did tell us that price was the most important factor in their choice of a grocer, when it got down to the individual details there were so many other things, so many other factors that our members liked about Heinen’s, that that outweighed the lack of competitiveness in pricing,” Stanger said.

"It is a bit ironic that this report said we were just ‘ok’ on pricing because this week we started with a focus on reducing prices on many items,” Jeff Heinen said.

Other Cleveland-area grocery store chains also made the list, but didn’t rank as highly. Aldi received a score of 84 out of 100. Marc’s received a score of 77 out of 100. Both Marc’s and Aldi received top marks for competitiveness of pricing.

Lucky’s Market received a score of 82 out of 100, and a very good rating for its produce quality and variety. It received a good rating for its competitiveness of pricing. Giant Eagle received a score of 73 out of 100, and received a poor rating for the competitiveness of its prices. It received a good rating for its produce quality and variety, and meat and poultry quality.

Central Market, a Texas-based speciality supermarket chain run by H-E-B, took the top spot, with a score of 91 out of 100.