Local pawn shop owners say Idahoans pawning items to buy gas, survive inflation

BOISE, Idaho (CBS2) As prices on everything including gas go up, local pawn shop owners and customers are also struggling. I talked to Boise Pawn and First National Pawn about inflation and how their shops have been affected.

As prices on everything including gas go up, local pawn shop owners and customers are also struggling.

I talked to Boise Pawn and First National Pawn about inflation and how their shops have been affected.

Both say, ever since the pandemic, their customers have approached pawning differently.

"People aren't buying as much as they use to. So you have a tremendous amount of merchandise coming in but then as that merchandise starts cycling out of the floor, you have to have people that have the expendable income to buy it," said JT Newton, Boise Pawn co-owner.

Newton has been in the business for nearly 20 years.

"The whole point for us is for them to bring their item in, we get a couple of months of interest and they take that item back. That's been the foundation of our business forever," Newton said.

Historically, he says his business has helped people live paycheck to paycheck. The customers would bring in their items, and take a small loan that gets them through payday.

"Once that item has been in before, they know it's worth a certain amount of money. So if they bring in a gold ring, they know that gold ring that might be in their sock drawer [is there] if they get short [of money]," Newton said.

He says inflation is affecting his customer's pawning habits.

"When it jumps from people trying to make it paycheck to paycheck to trying to afford gas to go to the job that doesn't pay enough so they can pay for the apartment that they can't afford, that's when the dynamic changes," Newton said.

Due to the sheer volume of merchandise, the shop has to turn people away more often.

"There is a moment where if nobody is buying it, you are hurting yourself by continuing to take it," Newton said.

The economy is also impacting hiring. Over at First National Pawn, since COVID-19, the shop has been struggling to hire people due to starting wages not being able to keep up with the changing economy.

"We are getting busy here and we are trying to hire people and it kind of affects us because the rent on housing is $1,400 on average," said Dustin Memmott, First National Pawn manager, and pawn broker.

Memmott says the shop has had to be more selective about what they bring in.

"Through COVID-19 we were less selective on stuff we brought in because we wanted to help people in that situation and now that it is coming back we are getting such an influx and we have limited space," Memmott said.

He says it has been hard seeing customers struggle in this economy.

"Seeing people that have lived here a long time have their cost of living inflated so much within three years it makes you feel helpless and sad at the same time," Memmott said.

Both pawn shops say they are reminded of the 2007 recession and have concerns about the future.

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