Capital Pawn has survived its first Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday weekend, and we are happy to say that business is booming. Located just north of Fred Meyer South on Commercial Street SE in Salem, we already have a terrific following.
During the Holiday explosion, it has been interesting to watch and listen to people react to this business and express their misgivings about the pawn business. We thought it reasonable to explore the history of pawn shops and ease the misconceptions about pawn brokering. Pawn lending is not a new business. In fact, some reports trace pawn loans back at least 3,000 years to ancient China, as well as Greek and Roman civilizations. According to the National Pawnbrokers Association, even Queen Isabella of Spain may have pawned her royal jewels to finance Christopher Columbus’ voyage to the New World.
The pawn industry came to America with the first settlers, and in the early parts of the last century, pawn brokering was regarded as the main source of consumer credit. With the rise of large consumer credit institutions, such as finance corporations, savings and loan associations, and credit unions, the pawn shop is no longer the main source of consumer credit. But the pawn shop still plays a vital role in providing consumer credit and offering the consumer some of today’s best buys.
Every time we give loans on an item, we know that someday it could be on our shelf for sale. Therefore, we only deal in good, quality merchandise. Our pawn shop is an established business, locally owned, not here today and gone tomorrow like the flea market, auction sale, garage sale, or the guys selling out of a van on the side of the road. As pawn brokers we know our business is only as good as our reputation, and we work hard to make that apparent.
Come visit Capital Pawn in South Salem, one of Oregon’s largest pawn shops. You never know what you will find. You would have to visit dozens of different retail stores to find all the different types of merchandise we have in this single pawn shop: jewelry, DVDs, high-end purses and bags, silver, watches, stereos, sporting goods, cameras, musical instruments, tools, TVs, computers, bikes, snowboards, and much more. Our pricing is already competitive, so no haggling is necessary! In addition, you can bring in your gold and pay for what you want with the cash you get from selling your gold!
Just imagine putting that special item under the tree for a loved one this year, and you paid a fraction of the price at Capital Pawn!