LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — For the last couple of years, many businesses have felt the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and that also includes many pawn shops.
"Everything was closed, casinos were closed, the restaurants were closed. So, they didn't have any place to spend the money. So, they came and picked up all of their pawn items," said Tim Collier, President of the Arkansas Pawnbrokers Association.
He explained that the pandemic led to lower inventory for many pawnshops.
This is something the owner of USA Loans, Cheryl McClain, saw firsthand.
"Our inventory fell to record low levels,” said McClain. “We're starting to build it back up now.”
That rebuild of inventory has been happening at a fast rate as more people have turned to pawn shops for some relief.
“They need to get by, by you know, having a few dollars to buy gas, or pick up a prescription or pay a light bill until their next paycheck," added McClain.
Braswell and Son explained that when it comes to their customers, they have also been seeing something similar.
“They are trying to decide, do I really want to come back for this or not, I’m not going to be able to pay it back,” said store manager, Amanda Camarena.
“And so, we're seeing more people selling their items,” she added.
Camarena also said that with more sellers than buyers, certain items have been overflowing.
“Everything that is electronics," said Camarena. "And actually luxury goods like handbags and watches."
Cheryl said that when it comes to certain items, such as televisions, she's had to turn customers away because she simply has too many.
"Over 100 televisions for sale, we have over 50 apple watches for sale,” said McClain. “Those are large numbers of items that we haven't had in the past.”
This has left both businesses to learn how to adjust in different ways.
"We're marking prices down to make things more affordable for people,” said McClain.
Both businesses plan on lowering prices in an effort to make sure that they can continue to keep their doors open too.
"Sometimes we have to adjust the prices when people are coming to borrow money, because, you know, we're trying to sell the items as well," Camarena added.