((PKG)) GROWTH OF PAWN SHOPS
((Banner: Fast Cash))
((Reporter/Camera: Deborah Block))
((Adapted by: Philip Alexiou))
((Map: Waldorf, Maryland))
((NATS))
((Eric Rizer, Owner, Royal Pawn))
You wind it up here. Once you get to a certain tension on it, let the brake go, and once it gets going….((NATS)) It’s like any other, you know, second hand shop. One man’s trash is another’s treasure. So, I mean, we buy just such a wide variety of things and we sell them at a discounted price, so somebody can come and get a fantastic deal on something.
((NATS))
((Customer))
A wood together, like mounted together.
((NATS))
((Anthony Ruggaero, Customer, Top Dollar Pawn))
Well, I’ve been doing business with Mike for about two years now and I came down here to pawn a few of my things, so I can pay for my wedding.
((NATS))
((Eric Rizer, Owner, Royal Pawn))
Whether it’s jewelry, artwork, musical equipment, we deal with just a wide variety of different items.
((NATS))
((Anthony Ruggaero, Customer, Top Dollar Pawn))
Being married in three months. I bought a ring here last week.
((NATS))
((Austen Ballard, Music Producer, MMP Studios))
So much fun to pick up an old instrument that you know is like, for instance, in the old, like 50s or 60s, Gibson Les Paul and just to know there’s probably a lot of history with that. You never know where a guitar’s been. It might be on a record you’ve heard on the radio for all you know.
((NATS))
((Pop-Up Banner: The country has seen a rise in the number of pawnshops. However, pawnshop sales nationwide have gone down))
((NATS))
((Mike Thomen, Manager, Top Dollar Pawn))
People can go onto Craigslist. People can go on to Letgo. People can go on to Ebay. They could sell their merchandise straight to another customer without having to come through us. So, it’s definitely taken away a bit of the business.
((Customer, Top Dollar Pawn))
I guess it’s probably the CPU, but it couldn’t handle Battlefield. I posted it on Craigslist but it didn’t get any hits. Didn’t feel like doing the Ebay thing, so.
((NATS))
((Mike Thomen, Manager, Top Dollar Pawn))
I guess the business took a new direction 10, 11 years ago when it was more about making the loans rather than making the money on the sales.
((Pop-Up Banner: To get a loan, customers pledge their property as collateral))
((NATS))
((Mike Thomen, Manager, Top Dollar Pawn))
I think the average loan in the United States for pawnshop is 150 dollars. So, I know the average loan for my one store is $120, the other one is $140. So, on that we do a 20 percent loan. So, if you borrow 100 dollars, it’s 120 dollars to come and pick up your loan.
((NATS))
((Customer, Top Dollar Pawn))
This is a personality thing for me. I want to talk to the people that I’m actually buying products from. I don’t want something off the line. Then it gets to my house and it’s not exactly what I want. Well, yes, sort of, kind of like that.
((NATS))
((Mike Thomen, Manager, Top Dollar Pawn))
I’m a second generation pawnshop owner. My father opened our first store about 30 years ago.
((Eric Rizer, Owner, Royal Pawn))
My mother was an antique dealer. She started dealing antiques in England. We moved here to the United States and I just grew up with it.
((NATS))
((Pop-Up Banner: 30 million people visit 11,000 pawnshops in the United States each year))
