Nov. 13, 2025

Longtime Sioux Falls Furniture Mart USA founder and chairman Bill Hinks has earned his place in industry history.

Hinks, who opened his first furniture store in 1977, recently was inducted into the American Home Furnishings Hall of Fame, considered the industry’s highest honor.

“It’s so fantastic. I couldn’t believe it,” said Hinks, who officially was inducted last month at a ceremony at the Hall of Fame’s headquarters in High Point, North Carolina.

Hinks was recognized not just for growing into a top 40 retailer in the industry but also for how he did it — bringing access to retail furniture to rural customers across almost 60 stores in six states and a 300,000-square-mile region.

The company operates four brands: Furniture Mart, Ashley, Carpet One and the newest, Billie Arthur.

“It’s the industry’s highest honor, and it’s not given lightly,” said Karen McNeill, executive chair of the American Home Furnishings Hall of Fame.

“It’s really a major honor. We’re a $150 billion industry, and to be inducted into the Hall of Fame is a very big thing.”

The same week in North Carolina, Furniture Mart was named Retailer of the Year by the International Home Furnishings Representatives Association, honoring those in the industry who have turned challenges into opportunities. Hinks and Furniture Mart CEO Cory Price were singled out for their industry leadership, company culture, enduring success and community philanthropy.

The American Home Furnishings Hall of Fame was founded in 1988 and allows three to five new inductions each year. Honorees are chosen for their long-term commitment to the industry, superior accomplishments,  innovation and creativity, and philanthropic generosity.

Hinks “is known for service and known for quick delivery and the variety of home furnishings he makes available to people,” McNeill said.

“Normally what you see in their stores are only seen in stores in metropolitan areas, and they do have stores in Minneapolis and Sioux Falls, but in other areas he figured out how to do that because he believes that no matter where you live you should be able to surround yourself in a beautiful home.”

The company’s network of warehouses allows for delivery of most items in as little as three days, she added.

“That is amazing (even) in a metro area, and when you consider all these other factors, it’s really unique he was able to figure out how to do that.”

The Hall of Fame also recognized Furniture Mart for its Priority Sales program, which partners with nine Native American reservations to provide private funding to tribal members, enabling many to buy furniture for the first time.

Hinks has been a leader within the industry, including helping shape the vision for the Hall of Fame itself, McNeill added.

“He was very interested in the plans for the building, and I showed him the blueprints, and he gave me a lot of really good ideas. … He is quite visionary,” she said. “He talked about functionality in the building that made sense, and I could see a lot of wisdom. There’s a lot of Bill in this (building).”

And now, his story will be enshrined there too.

“I’m so very grateful to get to experience this momentum in my lifetime,” Hinks said in his acceptance speech, days before turning 87 years old.

“We’re going to keep growing and doing this. You just fall in love with what you’re doing, the product you’re handling. You just can’t get enough of it. God has been looking over me all these years, guiding me in the right direction and guiding others into my path.”

He also had quite the cheering section from Sioux Falls, including a chartered plane of supporters. The Hinks group totaled almost 100 people.

“In my 20 years, there’s never been such a thing,” McNeill said. “I don’t think we’ve ever had that many personal friends and family.”

The group also was immersed in the industry, touring not just the Hall of Fame but also seeing a buying market held in conjunction with it in North Carolina, before cheering on Hinks as he was the final inductee to take the stage.

“It was just crazy. I’m not a speaker — I do it if I have to — but I think it hit just right, and there was a group there of about 2,000 people, and it was packed,” Hinks said. “I was the ending one, and I got hugged about 50 times, and that was unbelievable. It was just huge.”