William A. Hinks, founder and chairman of Furniture Mart USA, started selling surplus furniture in the 1970s as a sideline to his already successful businesses in real estate and mobile home sales. Recognizing an opportunity to provide consumers in rural markets with access to a wide range of quality furniture and flooring brands typically only found in metropolitan stores, Hinks opened his first furniture store in 1977. In the years since, Mr. Hinks grew Furniture Mart USA into a Top 40 retailer with 60 stores and six warehouses in six upper Midwestern states. With a mission to transform “houses into homes, employees into family and customers into friends,” the three-generation family business based in Sioux Falls, S.D., quickly established a strong base across the many rural markets it serves by always putting the customer first.

The steady growth of Furniture Mart USA is a testament to savvy retail strategies and the innovative mindset of Mr. Hinks. The company operates four distinct furniture store brands, each targeted to a different demographic group and budget range with its own format. The retailer’s Priority Sales program partners with nine Native American Reservations to provide private funding to tribal members, enabling many to buy furniture for the first time. At the upper end, the new Billie Arthur store brand provides interior design consultation as a destination for discerning homeowners who demand exceptional craftsmanship backed by unparalleled service.  The company offers in-stock rapid delivery  by leveraging its strategically located warehouses to deliver most furniture orders within three days across the 300,000 sq. mile region it serves.

A serial entrepreneur, Mr. Hinks is a longtime property developer who owns most of the company’s store and warehouse properties. This approach helps reduce costs and gives new life to many small-town storefronts that otherwise might be vacant.

Mr. Hinks and his company partner with the communities in which it does business by supporting higher education and endless nonprofit organizations. He has long supported the Home Furnishings Association and been a generous supporter of the American Home Furnishings Hall of Fame.