Hinky Dinky was a supermarket chain based in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

, that operated mainly in

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and

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

History

The Hinky Dinky grocery store chain was started by Jule, Henry and Albert Newman, brothers, and Ben Silver, a cousin, in Omaha in 1925. Another supermarket chain already existing was called

Piggly Wiggly Piggly Wiggly is an American supermarket chain operating in the American Southern and Midwestern regions run by Piggly Wiggly, LLC, an affiliate of C&S Wholesale Grocers. Its first outlet opened in 1916 in Memphis, Tennessee, and is notable fo ...

. Hoping to take advantage of the public's affection for a cute name (Piggly Wiggly was very successful) they came up with "Hinky-Dinky", which was taken from the

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

song, “Hinky Dinky Parlez-vous” (see ''

Mademoiselle from Armentières "Mademoiselle from Armentières" is an English song that was particularly popular during World War I. It is also known by its ersatz French hook line, 'Inky Pinky Parlez Vous,' or the American variant 'Hinky Dinky Parlez-vous' (variant: ''Parlay v ...

''). In 1972, Hinky Dinky was purchased by Cullum Companies of Dallas, which operated the

Tom Thumb Tom Thumb is a character of English folklore. ''The History of Tom Thumb'' was published in 1621 and was the first fairy tale printed in English. Tom is no bigger than his father's thumb, and his adventures include being swallowed by a cow, tan ...

grocery chain. At its peak, Hinky Dinky operated approximately 50 stores. But Cullum was using profits from Hinky Dinky to support the operations of the Tom Thumb stores, and comparatively little reinvestment was made in the Hinky Dinky stores. A 1984 strike by unionized workers also hurt revenue. By the mid-1980s many Hinky Dinky stores had been sold or closed, leaving only a handful of stores in scattered locations. Ron Badley purchased the Hinky Dinky name and several stores from Cullum in 1985. In 2000 the remaining stores were sold to grocery distributor Nash Finch, which dropped the name on all of the stores. Hinky Dinky was a pioneer in partnering with

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

s to open in-store banking offices.Cash in Supermarkets
''Time'', June 9, 1975. Retrieved on August 17, 2022 For instance, in April 1974, the retail chain entered into an agreement with the First Federal Savings & Loan to deploy dedicated stalls while providing banking services within the stores. These booths were equipped with a terminal that enable verification, recording transactions, and updating accounts directly with the bank on the spot. The terminals became so popular amongst savings banks in the late 1970s that they became known by the "Hinky Dinky" moniker amongst bankers.

In popular culture

* In the television series ''

Better Call Saul ''Better Call Saul'' is an American crime and legal drama television series created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould. Part of the ''Breaking Bad'' franchise, it is a spin-off of Gilligan's previous series, ''Breaking Bad'', and serves as a ...

,'' Season 2 Episode 7 '

Inflatable An inflatable is an object that can be inflated with a gas, usually with air, but hydrogen, helium and nitrogen are also used. One of several advantages of an inflatable is that it can be stored in a small space when not inflated, since inflata ...

' (2016), Kim Wexler mentions the chain by saying that if she didn't leave her hometown she would probably be married to the guy who ran the town gas station, and maybe working as a cashier at Hinky Dinky.

References

External links

Hinky Dinky.net
- Hinky Dinky history
hinkydinky-dsm.com
- Hiinky Dinky - Des Moines - store reunion site Defunct supermarkets of the United States History of Omaha, Nebraska Defunct companies based in Omaha, Nebraska 2000s disestablishments in Nebraska {{US-retail-company-stub