Archive for the ‘Pawn Shop Stories’ Category
Monday, May 10th, 2010
From Philly Dot Com
High-end payday loans
By Harold Brubaker
Inquirer Staff Writer
From his pawnshop at 10th and Sansom Streets in Center City, Tod Gordon has an unusual window on credit and the economy.
Carver W. Reed & Co. Inc. is not the stereotypical pawnshop where the walls are lined with guitars and the glass cases are filled with cameras.
Instead, Carver W. Reed, which celebrates its 150th anniversary Tuesday, specializes in loans that use diamond and gold jewelry exclusively as collateral.
Gordon said his business had catered to wealthier clients for decades. Even so, he said, in 2008 and 2009 he saw a huge increase in the number of business owners pawning the gold watches and diamond jewelry they had bought in better days.
They needed the money to pay their employees, Gordon said, and could not borrow it from a bank.
“The number of people that have come in from walks of life that I never expected to see has been overwhelming,” Gordon said. His grandfather bought the business in 1949 from descendants of the founder and kept the name.
Most customers who started borrowing from him during the financial crisis are still playing catch-up, he said.
On the plus side for the economy, he noted, wholesale and retail demand have improved for the jewelry he ends up selling because loans are not repaid.
“I’ve noticed a dramatic swing in the last three months. People are starting to come back out again and spend money and buy again,” said Gordon, who zealously guards his clients’ privacy.
He also declined to disclose the value of his outstanding loans because each is backed by jewelry worth three or four times as much as the loan.
The Pennsylvania Department of Banking regulates pawnbrokers and limits the amount of interest that can be charged to 3 percent per month, Gordon said. That adds up to a high rate over a year, but for a month a $10,000 loan costs $300.
“You can’t go to a bank to get that,” Gordon said.
Building contractors take advantage of such financing to make payroll and buy supplies, he said.
“Their stuff is back out in 60 days max,” Gordon said. “I have many contractors; they are all big loan people.”
There are 57 licensed pawnshops in Pennsylvania, the same as three years ago, according to the state Banking Department. New Jersey has 35 licensed pawnbrokers.
The 2,600-member National Association of Pawnbrokers, based in Keller, Texas, says that most pawnshops are family businesses and that they are regulated by all the federal laws that apply to other financial institutions, such as the Truth in Lending Act and the Bank Secrecy Act.
“It’s an intriguing business,” Gordon said. He has worked full time at Carver W. Reed since graduating from college in 1977 and is thrilled to have a daughter in the business now.
He clearly enjoys people and the insights he gains on the economy. He talked about a new customer, a manufacturer of furniture for boats, who has been in business for 38 years and for the first time could not make payroll.
“That, to me, was a real sign of a trickle-down effect,” Gordon said.
“Everybody says, ‘The cruise lines are hurting,’ but nobody thinks about the guy making furniture for the cruise lines.”
Tags: consumer credit, Economic Indicator, Pawn Loans, pawnbroker, pawnshop, Philadelphia
Posted in Pawn Shop Stories | 3 Comments »
Saturday, May 8th, 2010
From Wall Street Journal Blog
May 7, 2010, 3:08 PM ET.
Taking Stock Of Being In Hock,
VCs Fawn Over Internet Pawn.Pawn shops may bring to mind images of rejected engagement rings, second-hand Stratocasters and giant neon cowboys directing the way to cash for gold and silver.
But pawnbroking, as a business, is essentially one of the world’s oldest and simplest forms of banking. Here’s how it works: An item of personal property is used as collateral to secure a loan. If that loan is defaulted, the pawnbroker can sell the property to recoup the loan value.
Todd Hills is a 25-year veteran pawnbroker who currently owns seven pawn shops in the Salt Lake City area. Hills, following in the footsteps of many other traditionally brick-and-mortar businesses, saw an opportunity to bring his expertise to the Web.
An Internet pawn shop. Why not?
Some venture capitalists had the same reaction, and Hills recently secured a $1.5 million Series A round of funding from Daylight Partners and Access Ventures to launch Internet Pawn Inc.
“I decided it was time to pull this off online,” said Hills, the start-up’s founder and chief executive. “There’s a whole customer base out there that has never had to deal with a pawn loan. With everything going on in the economy and the lack of credit, there are a lot of people who this is right for.”
With Internet Pawn, customers simply fill out an application form online and receive a provisional offer. If they accept the offer, they send their items to Internet Pawn and a loan is transferred upon arrival.
The minimum loan size is $250. While the APR varies based on the fees and loan size, a standard $500 six-month term loan, for example, would have a 72% APR. That compares with a 180% APR for a $500, 30-day loan at a traditional pawn shop, Internet Pawn’s Web site said.
Denver-based Internet Pawn will place a loan on anything of value, from diamonds, art, gold and jewelry, to automobiles and motorcycles.
Many forms of bricks-and-mortar commerce have made their way to the Internet, but pawnbrokering is a segment where a clear leader hasn’t emerged. Jay Campion, managing director at Access Venture Partners, said finding a business model that has worked for more than 3,000 years and having the opportunity to bring it online is one of the biggest factors that attracted him to the investment.
The pawnbroking business can carry with it some unsavory associations. In the popular imagination, pawn shops are seedy storefronts in the bad part of town that may support the fencing of stolen items or take advantage of people in desperate financial situations. It’s a stigma that investors had to consider before writing a check to Internet Pawn.
“The company is called Internet Pawn and it’s the best way to describe the company,” Campion said. “People have to get used to it. We have to tell a good story about how people who wouldn’t go to a bricks-and-mortar pawn shop have received loans with privacy through Internet Pawn.”
Privacy is one of the company’s advantages and could ultimately be the factor that makes the company a success. A person can obtain a loan through Internet Pawn without ever leaving their home.
“There’s a little bit of embarrassment when you have to take your Rolex down to your local pawn shop,” Hills said. “We remove that process.”
Tags: consumer credit, Internet Pawn, Pawn Loans, pawnbroker, pawnshop, Wall Street Journal
Posted in Pawn Shop Stories | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, May 4th, 2010
From: News 10 Dot Net
Family tradition secret to
100 years of success of
Sacramento pawn shop
Jennifer Smith
SACRAMENTO,CA - It is Sacramento’s oldest family-
operated pawn shop celebrating over 100 years in
business in downtown Sacramento.
California Loan & Jewelry Co. is one of many long-
surviving businesses in the Sacramento region who
have weathered the Great Depression and now the
current recession.
“We’ve now gone through three generations and
we’ll go on hopefully another 100 years,” said
Warren Anapolsky who currently runs the business
with his brother Larry. The company was originally
founded in 1909 by twin brothers William and Joe
Anapolsky.
As the years passed, there have been plenty of
changes in the kinds of items being pawned. “Our
grandfather used to take in suitcases, hats, and
razor,” said Anapolsky. “My father in the 40s, 50s,
and 60s was taking in typewriters, and transistor
radios.” The company’s current niche is jewelry.
Anapolsky says when times are tough, people come
to his store to borrow money to continue making
house payments or to put food on the table. When
times are good, he says there’s still a segment that
needs to borrow money, but others are looking for
good value when buying.
Anapolsky credits family tradition for the company’s
longevity. “We’ve learned from dealing with our
parents and our parents dealing with their parents
the value system of integrity value and service,” he
said. “It’s been a winning combination for us for all
these years now.”
By Jennifer Smith,
News10/KXTV
Tags: California Loan, consumer credit, Pawn Loans, pawnbroker, pawnshop, Sacramento
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Friday, April 30th, 2010
From KBTX Dot Com
Local Man Discovers Pocket Watch With Tons Of Texas History
Jimmy Butler was given the watch as a thank you for car repairs he performed.
Posted: 5:06 PM Apr 29, 2010
Reporter: Shane McAuliffe
Email Address: mcauliffe@kbtx.com
——————————————————————————–
Local Man Discovers Pocket Watch With Tons Of Texas History
Imagine having an antique for years only to find out it may have played a big part in Texas history. That’s exactly what happened to one Magnolia family and thanks to a genuine friend from Plantersville, the family didn’t lose what could be worth thousands of dollars.
Jimmy Butler drinks coffee out of a pickle jar and likes to tinker with cars, but his true passion is pocket watches.
“Don’t you love pocket watches, especially broken ones? Yes I do,” said Butler with enthusiasm.
That’s why he visits his friend Rachel Presley at the Magnolia Pawn Shop from time to time. Every pocket watch she gets in, she sells directly to Jimmy.
“It doesn’t even go on the shelf, I just call Jimmy and that’s that,” said Presley.
But one pocket watch owned by Rachel’s husband Jason didn’t come with a price tag. It was after working on car that Jason gave Jimmy a pocket watch that had been in his toolbox for over 10 years. Jimmy researched that pocket watch and couldn’t believe what he found.
“Not to put your own name on the face of your watch was what set it off for me,” said Butler.
Jimmy knew right off the bat that the Rockford pocket watch from 1885 was unique. Instead of having the manufacturer’s name on the face, all it says is, “H.W. Graber, Brenham Texas.” The same name was found on the movement of the watch so Butler asked his daughter to research on the internet if Graber was a member of the Texas Rangers.
“I had a friend who told me he recognized the name as a Texas Ranger. I asked my daughter to look it up on the computer. She did and at first she said, Daddy, it’s not a baseball player. And I told her, no honey, not those Rangers,” joked Butler.
After a little bit of confusion, Jimmy’s research payed off and the 125 year old watch he held in his hand had a history. The pocket watch belonged to Henry W. Graber, a Terry’s Texas Ranger. The regiment fought in 275 battles during the Civil War and Graber was also a member of the Texas Rangers. That historic connection flooded Jimmy with calls about the artifact, some of those calls included offers for the watch, which Jimmy couldn’t believe.
“When folks offer you thousands of thousands of thousands of dollars without seeing the item,” said Butler.
Despite being offered over $20,000 dollars for the watch, Jimmy refused to sell it from under the feet of his friends.
“They didn’t know what they gave me. I could have sold that watch any day and no matter how much steak I would have bought, it would have all tasted like cow crap,” said Butler.
“Being the person he is, he doesn’t want a penny and he wants it all to go to the kids,” said Rachel Presley.
So now the watch sits in a safe place as the Presley’s try to figure out what to do with their part of Texas History.
“It’s not eating anything, we’re not feeding it, it’s not costing us any money so we’re going to hang on to it,” said Rachel.
As for Jimmy, he’s just ready to start working on another pocket watch.
“I hope the next watch I hold has no attachment to anybody. I just want to take it apart,” said Butler.
Tags: consumer credit, Pawn Loans, pawnshop, Texas Rangers
Posted in Pawn Shop Stories | 3 Comments »
Monday, April 19th, 2010
From Go San Angelo Dot Com
Pawnshop owners proud to help others
By Justin Zamudio
Originally published 08:56 p.m., April 18, 2010
SAN ANGELO, Texas — The ability to lend a helping hand to those in need is a driving force for business owner Lynda Clark.
She said she gets personal satisfaction from knowing she is aiding people who are down on their luck through her business, Lynda’s Pawn Shop.
The pawnshop provides short-term loans by lending a percentage of a valued collateral. Lynda’s Pawn Shop many times sees the same customers and items come through the doors seeking the short-term loans. After the loan and garnered interest is paid back, customers are able to recover their items of collateral.
Besides running the pawnshop, Lynda and her husband Joe Clark donate money and items to various Christian-based, nonprofit organizations that focus on rehabilitation.
Lynda said many times her customers turn to the pawnshop because banks won’t lend to some of her clientele or don’t offer small enough loans. She said many times people seek the short-term loans to pay for immediate needs.
“It’s a need society has. Many people don’t realize how important the pawnshop can be,” Clark said. Short-term loans “can feed your kids, it could buy your medicine, pay the baby sitter, help with your rent. If you just get into a jam or anything, it is there to help with money.”
The Clarks have been in the pawn business for more than 30 years, and Lynda’s Pawn has been a mainstay on Sherwood Way for the past 15 years. The couple became pawnbrokers while living in Odessa.
Lynda’s initial reaction to her husband’s pursuit of a pawn license was negative — she didn’t fully understand the functions of a pawnshop and had only heard of stereotypes about pawn shops, imagining them as underground places where drug addicts and gangs exchange stolen goods.
Before jumping into the business and making a big investment, Lynda decided to work for Odessa’s top pawnshop to seek guidance in the industry.
“I worked for free for a long time. He taught me everything — the good things, bad things, all the sides of the business,” Lynda said.
“She was a college graduate when she walked out of Jack’s Pawn Shop” in Odessa, Joe said.
After being in the business for about 15 years in Odessa, the couple decided to let their daughter take the reins of the shop and moved to San Angelo to enjoy their retirement and love for fishing. After about a month or two off the pawn scene, the couple saw the Sherwood Way building for lease and decided retirement wasn’t their thing. They soon opened up shop.
Early in her career, Lynda figured getting into the pawn business was a way to make a living and expand on her fascination with tools, which she has a wide selection of at the shop. After being in the business for a while, she discovered the joy of forging personal connections with her customers, many of whom repeatedly drop in to “just shoot the breeze.”
“You get to know these people so well,” Lynda said. “There are some very happy moments in the pawn business and some heart-wrenching ones. Some are so heart-wrenching that you just can’t close your mind to it. If you’re a Christian, you remember them and have them in your prayers that night.
“Our customers become like family —we laugh when they laugh and hurt when they hurt.”
Tags: consumer credit, Lynda's Pawn, Pawn Loans, pawnbroker, pawnshop, San Angelo TX
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Monday, April 5th, 2010
From Northern Star Dot Com Dot AU
New black market for jewellery
Dominic Feain | 5th April 2010
THE ILLEGAL trading of precious metals on the internet is creating a new black market for stolen jewellery say police and local pawnbrokers.
Ballina pawnbroker and jeweller Clayton Myler says the practice of buying jewellery on the internet is also fraught with peril for buyers.
Mr Myler has lost count of the times he’s seen local residents ripped off.
“Whenever someone comes in to sell a piece of jewellery or get it valued and there is something wrong with it, they usually confess that they bought it on the internet,” he said.
Mr Myler’s advice comes in the wake of a state-wide warning from police for second-hand dealers to cease trading in gold and other precious metals on the internet and through mail services.
Manager of the NSW Police Pawnbrokers Unit, Inspector Kelly Kortlepel said trading gold and other precious metals without face-to-face interaction with a customer is illegal and could assist in the trade of stolen goods.
“It is an illegal activity and police will be cracking down on traders who fail to comply with our direction to cease trading via internet and mail services,” she said.
While Mr Myler has successfully shifted a lot of his business onto the web, he believes the vast majority of online jewellery trading is suspect.
“We tried it a few years back but it simply didn’t work with our strict business practices,” he said, adding his business works closely with police and the Department of Fair Trading to prevent the resale of stolen goods.
“Buyers seemed to expect goods to be stolen and subsequently demanded ridiculous discounts. The internet has created a whole new low in second hand jewellery trading.
“One of the biggest internet scams at the moment is people selling large diamond rings for one fifth or one tenth of the valuation price.
“They are genuine stones at the correct size and weight but they are invariably very, very poor quality pieces.”
Mr Myler also questioned the proliferation of gold buyers coming into town, setting up stalls in shopping centres and buying jewellery by weight.
With gold prices remaining consistently high, the practice of unlicensed traders buying jewellery to melt down could create a new black market for thieves.
Detective Superintendent Ken Hughes, commander of NSW Police Force’s Operational Information Agency said jewellery was the main ‘currency’ for the illegal online trade of precious metals.
He said the problem with internet or mail-order jewellery trading was the difficulty in fully identifying the seller – a strict requirement of the Second-hand Dealers and Pawnbrokers Act.
Tags: consumer credit, Internet Trading, Pawn Loans, pawnbroker, pawnshop, Precious Metals
Posted in Pawn Shop Stories | 1 Comment »
Saturday, March 27th, 2010
From LVJR Dot Com
Mar. 26, 2010
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
NORM: ‘Pawn Stars’ brings bookworm fame
Rick Harrison of the hit reality show “Pawn Stars” can’t go anywhere without getting the celebrity treatment.
Still a bit uncomfortable with his newfound stardom, Harrison walked into the DMV office on Decatur on Thursday hiding behind some Ray-Ban shades.
His disguise didn’t work. His bald head gave him away.
“If you didn’t want to be recognized,” one fan told him, “you should have worn a wig.”
Another person ribbed the pawnbroker with: “You want $1,000? I’ll give you $100.”
A lady in the DMV line saw the hubbub and was convinced Bruce Willis was in the building.
That’s funny, Harrison said when I reached him by telephone. “When I was at Terry Fator’s show, this guy came up to me and said, ‘How’s it going? Remember when we did that charity event five years ago?’”
When the brief conversation ended, the man told Harrison, “Nice talking to you, Bruce.”
All this fame from 40-some episodes has Harrison, 45, shaking his head in disbelief. “I’ve been a bookworm my whole life. Just worked hard. Never thought anything like this would happen,” he said.
“A friend of mine in junior high called,” said Harrison, who grew up in San Diego before moving to Las Vegas in 1981. “Cousins who I didn’t know existed.”
Business at the family-run Gold and Silver Pawn at 713 S. Las Vegas Blvd. has been booming so much that a $400,000 expansion is in the works to double the size of the showroom. It’s costing a lot because his two structures are among the oldest on the Strip, he said. They were built in 1935, the year before Hoover Dam was completed. Las Vegas had all of 8,500 residents.
How popular is the show? This month, it drew a record 5.3 rating on the History Channel and 5.8 a week later.
Harrison said Jessica Simpson chalked up terrible ratings for her VHI reality show, “The Price of Beauty,” to going head-to-head with “Pawn Stars.”
Norm Clarke can be reached at (702) 383-0244 or norm@reviewjournal.com. Find additional sightings and more online at www.normclarke.com.
Tags: consumer credit, Las Vegas, Pawn Loans, Pawn Stars, pawnbroker, pawnshop
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Thursday, March 18th, 2010
From Tribune 242 Dot Com
Legitimacy key for pawn shop firm
By CHESTER ROBARDS
Business Reporter
crobards@tribunemedia.net
WHEN a customer who removed a piece of gold jewellery from Nassau Pawn walked back in less than 24 hours later and apologised for taking it, the owners knew their security measures for keeping customers safe - and possible stolen items out were working.
Store manager, Corey Rolle, said their system proves the new Bay Street-based pawn shop defies the common stigma of being a dumping ground for stolen goods, and portrayed in movies as havens for rogues and misdealing.
The owners and managers are working to dispel that perception through a thorough customer identification system, which requires a passport or drivers license copy to be taken, a picture of the customer taken and a fingerprint given before business is completed. They have also built a working relationship with the police, having a purchaser identificiton system that would assist with the recovery of stolen goods and apprehension of possible suspects.
“We don’t want anyone to get into any trouble,” said Mr Rolle. “We have already had to turn away a few people.”
According to him, a youth in school uniform was turned away after trying to pawn a gold ring, when did not want to offer identification. He said all patrons of the shop must be at least 18 years-old.
Nassau Pawn accepts almost anything that is in working order. So far, the shop is stocked with power tools, audio equipment and some charms and watches.
According to Mr Rolle, almost any item can be purchased by the pawn shop, with the borrower having the option to repurchase the item in 30 days, if that deal is struck between both parties.
Nassau Pawn also offers to reimburse a customer’s parking fees at a nearby parking lot, with a completed transaction of $50 or more.
Mr Rolle said not every item that enters the store will be able to be negotiated on, but haggling will be an important asset for future Nassau Pawn employees.
Mr Rolle yesterday struck a bargain for a portable DVD player and Gold ring after an unusual auction style-exchange with the seller. In the end, they were both satisfied with the price for the two items.
Owners of the pawn shop borrowed the idea from a Pawn Shop in Providenciales, Turk and Caicos, where the training team will be coming from.
While investors in the store did not want to reveal how much was injected into the Pawn Shop, they said it took a large amount of money to start such a facility.
“You can imagine start-up costs are high since you have to purchase goods from your customers,” one said.
Mr Rolle said they hope to eventually expand the Pawn Shop concept to Freeport. “It’s a great concept,” he said. “You can buy stuff for cheap prices and people can come in and sell stuff they no longer want.”
Tags: consumer credit, Nassau Pawn, Pawn Loans, pawnbroker, pawnshop
Posted in Pawn Shop Stories | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010
From WAAY TV Dot Com
Married at the Pawn Shop
Posted: March 1, 2010 11:46 PM EST
If you’re thinking of taking a trip down the aisle, a local pawn shop is offering a sweetheart of a deal.
The Wholesale Jewelry Pawn Shop in Huntsville has expanded its building and its services.
Now more than ever, business is booming with the owner’s innovative offer to help folks save money on one of life’s most precious moments.
At first glance it’s what you expect from a pawn shop; jewelry, guitars and tires for sale.
But if you look a little harder, like downstairs… the Wholesale Jewelry Pawn Shop’s services go above and beyond.
If you buy an engagement ring at Wholesale Jewelry you get to use their wedding chapel for free.
The chapel opened around Valentine’s Day and has been just about booked ever since.
Charles Markham recently bought an engagement ring for his girlfriend from Wholesale Jewelry now his wedding will be there in just a few weeks!
“It’s as good as anywhere else. Just recently I went to a friend of mine’s wedding at another chapel and this one is just as good or better and I thought it was wonderful,” said Markham.
With weddings costing thousands of dollars nowadays, owner Jerriel Stephens wanted to help his customers… so he redecorated the basement of his pawn shop turning it into the Always and Forever Wedding Chapel. It’s the first one of its kind in the country.
“Some of them were having a hard time getting married in churches because some of the churches charged a lot of money and some of the churches wouldn’t marry them because they weren’t members of the church,” said Jerriel Stephens.
“That’s really a special touch because there’s a lot of people that can’t afford with this economy. They can barely afford a nice ring then they end up going to the courthouse to get married so this is a very, very nice touch,” said Charles Markham.
The chapel holds 60 people. It’s decorated. There are also bathrooms, a dressing room, a sound system and a reception area.
Ministers are available for free and photographers are on staff.
The photographers offer a $50 fee for the basic picture package and CD.
It’s a deal many of Jerriel’s customers have a hard time turning down.
“They are very excited. We’ve had lots of people come look at it while it’s being built and the reception is beyond our wildest imagination. We expect to do a lot of weddings here!” said owner Jerriel Stephens.
Jerriel Stephens says if you buy any wedding or engagement ring at his shop the chapel is available for you to use.
The price of the engagement or wedding ring does not matter.
Tags: consumer credit, Huntsville AL, Pawn Loans, pawnbroker, pawnshop, Wedding Chapel
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Tuesday, February 9th, 2010
From Trans World News Dot Com
Pawn Stars Is a Smash Success
Pawn Stars Show On History Channel
Denville NJ 01/26/2010 1/26/2010 08:26 PM GMT (TransWorldNews)
Hailed by viewers as a really “cool Antiques Roadshow,” Pawn Stars is one of the most popular TV shows on the History Channel, which is part of the American Cable TV network. The show is produced by Leftfield Pictures and shot in and around the Las Vegas, Nevada area. Pawn Stars chronicles the activities that take place inside a Gold and Silver Pawn Shop. The first episode was aired back in July 26, 2009. Today, Pawn Stars is telecasted every Monday at 10 pm (Eastern Time). Each one-hour block features two episodes. This show has a loyal viewership that tunes in every week to see the latest events happening in the pawn shop.
Until the 1950s, pawning was actually one of the most popular form of consumer credit in the USA. Even today, you can still find pawn shops that have an extremely large customer base. You will find them all over the United States. Over the years with so many objects changing hands, it’s not unusual to find that several artifacts of historical importance have found their way to the many pawn shops in America today. Tracing the history behind such artifacts is undoubtedly be a wonderful walk down memory lane. It is precisely this feeling that each episode of Pawn Stars manages to bring into the home to the average viewer.
The show revolves around a Pawn Shop owned by the Harrison family. The shop was opened by Richard Harrison (“The Old Man”) and his son Rick Harrison (“The Appraiser”) back in 1988. The youngest Harrison, Corey (“Big Hoss”), is being trained by his father and grandfather to one day run the entire operation of the Pawn Shop.
Customers enter the shop with artifacts for pawning and interact with the staff is inevitable. Discussions and a lot of talk ensue; there is always much haggling over the prices as well as good old fashioned talk amongst all. These are punctured by knowledgeable narrations usually led by Rick and Corey on the historical value of the objects in question.
The charm of the TV show lies mainly on these deeply historical, yet extremely interesting historical narrations. Doubts regarding the authenticity of the object in question are settled by the wide variety of experts (on armory, handwriting, automobile restoration, early American history and on pretty much anything you can think of) called in by the shop. No wonder the show has completed more than 25 episodes and there is no end in sight.
As a pleasant diversion from the deeply historical thread of Pawn Stars, there is also much focus on the interpersonal conflicts between the Harrisons. Differences of opinion arise regarding the overall operation of the shop. Corey, being the youngest, often finds his management decisions questioned by his father and grandfather. An employee of the shop Austin “Chumlee” Russel, a friend of Corey’s, is also a major topic of conflict between the Harrisons. The obvious sentiments harbored by Chumlee for Danielle “Peaches” Rainey (another employee of the shop) is yet another entertaining diversion.
Both reviews and ratings of the show are very encouraging. Christopher Long of DVD Town finds the show “addictive.” He praises the cast and considers the educational value of the examined artifacts above par. He even goes as far as to describe Pawn Stars the best show on History Channel. April McIntyre, who writes for Monsters and Critics, disapproves of pawning and pawn shops in general. But she was the one who described Pawn Stars as a “cool Antiques Roadshow.” The Pawn Stars was awarded an awesome 8.9 out of 10 by TV.com (ranked by the votes of 30 viewers). Further, Common Sense Media (who provides program reviews for parents) found it to be suitable for viewing by children above 13.
Tags: consumer credit, History Channel, Las Vegas, Pawn Stars, pawnbroker, pawnshop
Posted in Pawn Shop Stories | 4 Comments »
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