J.A. Hefner founded the company from humble beginnings in Qulin, MO in 1925 as J.A. Hefner Mercantile . In the early 1940's Joe Hefner and his brother took over the company from their father and in the late 1960s closed the Qulin location and moved operations to Poplar Bluff, Missouri. In 1987, Joe Hefner sold the store, which had been renamed Joe Hefner's, to a corporation called Furniture Center whose corporate headquarters were located in Memphis, TN. Furniture Center renamed the company Joe Hefner Furniture Center.
Slug Hefner hired on with Furniture Center as a salesperson upon their purchase of "Joe Hefner's". One month after the purchase and his hire, Slug was promoted to General Manager. He ran the store for Furniture Center until 1991.
Contrary to a popular myth, Slug did not inherit the store nor was he given the store. He raised and borrowed enough money through local banks that, on April Fool's Day in 1991, he bought back the store with no outside help from family members. If you ask him today. Slug will give credit to Roger Baldwin, who was involved with First Midwest Bank at the time, for being instrumental in getting the funding to buy the store.
Since April Fool's Day of 1991, Hefner Furniture & Appliance, as it is now called, has more than quadrupled sales and has more than doubled the size with two separate locations (Poplar Bluff and Farmington).
Hefner Furniture & Appliance has been featured in Furniture Today numerous times, and has made the cover, plus it has been featured in Furniture Who's Who Publication.
The growth and success of Hefner Furniture is largely attributed to a philosophy of "Hefner's loves it's customers and takes care of the ones you love!"