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Pawn owners struggle too
Thought to be recession-proof, second-hand stores feeling the pain
Friday, July 3, 2009
 Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photos by EMILY BARNES
Julie Bowman, co-owner of Absolute Pawn Brokers, talks to a customers as she stands behind the counter of her Waldorf store.
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Julie Bowman is eager to shoot the breeze with anyone who wanders into Absolute Pawn Brokers in Waldorf, which she owns with her husband.
Recently, she's been inundated by clients seeking loans, she said, some of whom have gotten creative in finding items to pawn.
"We're getting all kinds of things. We just got a [male enhancement] pump in here. Yeah, we accepted it, just to have it for a topic for conversation," she announced, pointing to a colorful box on the shelf behind the counter. "It's new, in the box," she added to reassure a startled visitor.
Others have resorted to pawning shirts and shoes, expensive electronics, microwaves and even their pots and pans, while the desperate owner of a small contracting company has been pawning his equipment, then buying it back, to keep his company afloat.
"We know people are struggling, so we try to take whatever we can," she said.
The shop's computerized records sketch out the bare details of hard luck stories. One of her "best customers" has pawned a laptop 12 times and returned for it 11 times. Julie Bowman was confident he would make good on his debt this time, too. Too many others have dropped off their belongings never to return, leaving the Bowmans struggling to sell them in the shop or on the Internet.
"A lot of people bring stuff in and are not coming back for it. People pawning their wedding ring to get through payday, and it sits and sits and sits," when the person doesn't have the money to redeem it, said Giovanni Bowman, Julie's husband.
Earlier this month Giovanni, who is also a licensed bounty hunter, chased a man for miles into the woods off of Old Washington Road before catching him and handing him over to police.
The man, who had an outstanding warrant in Charles County, made the mistake of trying to pawn a stolen camera using a stolen ID.
"It would make a good reality show, I can tell you that," Julie Bowman said of life in her shop.
While she was chatting, a woman came in to redeem a camera lens belonging to a friend.
"He's been coming for a long time. This is a good place. It's reputable," the woman, who asked not to be named, said.
Another woman came in to pawn a bracelet and a silver-colored watch. Julie Bowman took the watch, checked the postings for similar items on eBay, then handed it back.
"I can't do anything with this. It's not selling," she said brusquely. She accepted the bracelet after scrutinizing it with a lens and testing it with a magnet to ensure the gold was real.
Relationships with customers are crucial in the business, Julie Bowman said.
"We'll do more for him [an established customer] than for a customer we don't know, because we have a history with him. Someone will bring the same item and we can't take it because we don't know him," she said.
Dennis Cohen, owner of All Pawn in White Plains, has had a different experience. He saw an influx of clients while gas prices were peaking, but not now. However, just like the Bowmans he is selling more abandoned items at a time when the climate is worse.
"We have the same problem as any other retailer right now — we're having trouble selling things, just like everyone else," Cohen said.
The annual interest rate at All Pawn is 18 percent, which Cohen said is lower than at most shops.
"This is very much a community-based business. I know most of my customers by their first names. We help them out as much as we can. A pawn shop doesn't want people's stuff — we want to work with them, make their payments and get their items back."
He said he warns his customers to be careful when selling their jewelry. "They tell me what they got for something, and I say, ‘Are you kidding? You would have gotten double here for it.' A lot of people don't realize pawn shops buy and sell gold."
He has been selling more weapons, something he attributes to political rather than economic factors.
"I have noticed an increase in gun sales. I think it's because, what's the old saying, ‘Democrats are good for gun sales.' When they're in power, in charge of the Senate, the House and the presidency, I think a lot of people are scared they're going to have their Second Amendment rights violated — they're going to get their guns while they can," Cohen said.
Gloria McGee of Gloria's Pawn Shop in Lexington Park said she is seeing more customers attempting to pawn worthless items, a trend she doesn't understand.
"To me, like I said, I've seen people trying to get rid of more junk than ever, and I won't take it. We do get it. In other words, if it was so bad, why isn't better stuff rolling in?" she said. "… If I really needed something really bad, like food, I [wouldn't] care what that item was. If it was valuable, if it came to my children eating or having to pay a very important bill, that item would go first," she said.
McGee said that, despite her trade's sometimes questionable reputation, people like her want to help others in need.
"You see a lot of good people come through. You say, ‘Oh, my gosh. I wish I could do something,' but we're not a bank. We can't give a home loan or anything, and I get the feeling a lot of their troubles do come from home loans;they don't read the fine print. If they come in we'll try to work with them. … What we're supposed to do is help one another. I've always thought that. That's why I got into this business," she said.
