Hardcore Pawn: A Trip Report - PICS

So I was getting ready to do a website for a 'Jewelry and Loan' here locally in the Detroit area and I wanted to go see this now famous gem that is in the horribly fake lexicon of reality TV. My assumptions were that, like the Pawn Stars guys, that not one person would be out front that anyone would have seen from the TV show. Somewhat relieved, there were faces here and there that I had seen in the total of 3 episodes I could stomach watching. The belligerent daughter was nowhere to be found and the son I saw in the back office area, where most of the staff was housed. There had to be 50 people in the back area going back and forth and pricing merch, getting it on the web or out in the mail for customers around the planet. The old guy came out to sign a couple of pieces of branded merch that they had everywhere in the storefront. T-shirts were going for like $24 - fuck that.




The store was expansive and took about 20 minutes to go through everything to get an overall appreciation of the collection they had there. A guy named Shawn helped me out through some of the collectible items and schooled me that the warehouse was 4x the size of the showroom that I was standing in. That made sense because there was a constant line at least 6 people deep at the front looking to get appraisals and another line of people paying off their loans. One employee made a comment that if you wanted to see people fighting that it's better to come back around the end of the month, when everyone is looking for cash to pay the rent, lol.

They were not filming and there was no hint of a camera crew around but I suppose that would be expected. I didn't bother to ask when filming was. I watched an episode when I got back home and it featured a strange wooden box that you crank up and it makes a lot of noise, apparently it was used on boats to signal other boats. One of the guys working there hauled it out for me from behind the counter and I gave it a whirl. It smelled bad and sounded like someone was sitting on a lazy cat, other than that it was pretty neat.




Tons of music equipment both vintage and new. Oodles of power tools and of course, bling by the pound. All and all a cool store and if you're in town you should stop in and go check it out, or if you're busto from visiting one of Detroit's myriad casinos, go hawk your nipple rings.


Cheers,



4D.

Cool trip report. How big is this shop inside would you say? Some guy was telling me he went there and it was a small little place which clearly he has no clue because on TV alone you can tell they have a decent showcase floor and then a big line waiting area as well.

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Originally Posted by BeerAndPoker

Cool trip report. How big is this shop inside would you say? Some guy was telling me he went there and it was a small little place which clearly he has no clue because on TV alone you can tell they have a decent showcase floor and then a big line waiting area as well.

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For a pawn shop it's huge. The jewelry area is as big as any jewelry store. There were sections with old timey appliances, sports collectibles, electronics and music, power tools, and a wall of TV's. I didn't see any weapons so I can only guess that they just don't carry them. Other than that it was big and full of stuff. I guess the only other remarkable thing in there was the collection of taxidermy that they referred to as 'The Zoo'. They had a hammerhead shark and a buffalo head in there. I should have gotten a pic of it.

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Originally Posted by 4Dragons

For a pawn shop it's huge. The jewelry area is as big as any jewelry store. There were sections with old timey appliances, sports collectibles, electronics and music, power tools, and a wall of TV's. I didn't see any weapons so I can only guess that they just don't carry them. Other than that it was big and full of stuff. I guess the only other remarkable thing in there was the collection of taxidermy that they referred to as 'The Zoo'. They had a hammerhead shark and a buffalo head in there. I should have gotten a pic of it.

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I thought it always looked big especially for pawn shop based standards. From episodes I have watched in the past I can't remember ever seeing someone bringing in a gun to sell of any sort which is probably better for Detroit anyways.

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Originally Posted by BeerAndPoker

Cool trip report. How big is this shop inside would you say? Some guy was telling me he went there and it was a small little place which clearly he has no clue because on TV alone you can tell they have a decent showcase floor and then a big line waiting area as well.

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"the warehouse was 4x the size of the showroom that I was standing in."

when you drive up you think its gonna be big due to how large the building is, once inside theres a bit more room to walk around than other local pawn shops but nothing too extraordinary, I could probably circle the area in a minute or two.

Must be hard to get a pawn license in this area? I am always skeptical when I see one location this successful. There was an article on the Pawn Star guys in Vegas and how long it took them to get their license.