Unlike pawn shops, some second-hand stores are suffering in the economic downturn. Stan Wise, owner of Rings Etc. on Bank Street, wonders about the financial future of his business.
The economy’s downward spiral hasn’t left all businesses bruised and battered – some area pawn shops say the recession has actually fattened their bottom lines.
Howard’s Pawn Shop, located at Bank and Flora, says its sales were up considerably over the holiday season.
Co-owner Matt Henein says customers don’t want to buy new products because of the dwindling economy.
“We made $1200 more this past boxing day, compared to 2007,” he says. “Our revenue has gone up about 10 per cent. We’re receiving a lot of pawns. People needed an extra chunk of change for the holidays,” he says.
But not all second-hand stores are pawn shops, and not all second- hand stores are doing well.
Unlike Howard’s, Rings Etc., a second-hand jewelry store, says its profits dropped between five and 10 per cent over the holidays.
Owner Stan Wise predicts the economy is going to get much worse, and he says if profits keep dwindling he might have to lay off some of his 14 employees.
“I hope it won’t get to that. I’ll try to avoid doing so, by cutting back everyone’s hours a little. That way, everyone can still put food on the table, you know,”
says Wise.
Henein says the worsening economy has affected what customers have been pawning to his store, and some would-be customers have become desperate for cash.
He says some parents have tried pawning their children’s toys, which he refuses to buy.
“I’m sorry, but they will bring their kid in here, and the kid is crying because they don’t want to give up their video game. And to be honest, I’m not going to buy a video game from a crying child, that’s not cool,” he says, shaking his head.
“Recently, one of my regular customers lost his job. He had operated a snow plow. To make up for the loss, he sold his and his wife’s engagement and wedding rings, as well as his wife’s bracelets,” he continued.
Henein says many people have been pawning their personal jewelry to his store, but he says customers have not been bringing in much gold.
“We usually see about a kilogram of gold move through here every month, but we saw only half of that last month,” he says.
Henein says if someone were to pawn something, it would be best if it were a video game or a movie.
“Any type of media goes really quickly, whether it be CDs or Playstation games,” says Henein.
Henein reflects on some strange transactions.
“It seems that with this worsening economy, people have been trying to pawn weirder things,” he says. “Like, this one guy tried to pawn me half a doorknob. I said no, and he replies, ‘But it still has the key in it!’