Desperate measures?
Arkansans are increasingly pawning things to fill their tanks.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
With gas prices taking a bigger bite out of American’s paychecks, more people are looking for ways to ease the strain on their wallets.
Pawn shop owners say many central Arkansans are cleaning out attics, garages and closets and filling their stores with tools, jewelry and other items to make enough money to fill their tanks.
In the world of pawn shops, these items are given as collateral for short term loans, usually lasting about 30 days. If the loan is repaid, the item is returned.
Ken Lentz, owner of Maumelle Pawn and Jewelry, said he’s seen everything from lawn mowers to televisions brought into his store.
“I hear it every day. ‘I don’t have any gas. I need help,’” he said.
His customers say they need to pawn items to get them to their next paycheck.
“I’ve got people that live in those high-dollar houses in Maumelle; they’re bringing stuff just to last them until they get paid,” he said.
He sees them return for their pawned items about 50 percent of the time.
At National Pawn Shop in North Little Rock, sales manager Michael Velten also is seeing more sellers than buyers enter the shop, and the merchandise is piling up.
“Because of the economy being in the tank, as it were, we’re not getting that many people shopping, but we’re getting a lot more pawning,” he said.
He hasn’t seen an atmosphere like this in his three years as sales manager.
“The stuff they’re bringing in is the same as usual, but there seems to be a little more desperation about it at the moment,” he said.
For the last couple of months, nearly all of his customers, ready to pawn firearms, musical instruments and jewelry, walk through the doors complaining about the price of gas.
Though he hasn’t considered pawning anything, gas prices are hitting local driver Danny Brickey harder than before.
He lives in Redfield and commutes 50 miles a day to Little Rock at least five times a week in his Toyota 4Runner.
“I went from it taking $35 to fill my vehicle up to $55,” he said. “That’s on a weekly basis. If I come into town one or two more times extra to go to the store or to the movies, it’s even more.
“My gas probably went up $150 extra a month,” he said.
He knows one person who has pawned video games, but Brickey said he’d be more inclined to pick up odd jobs for extra money before selling anything he owns.
“I don’t have a whole lot to pawn anyway,” he said. “I don’t really have anything that’s of value.”
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