Gas Prices Drive Motorists to Pawn Shops (Dozens of similar stories across the US)

[onehandle]

Source: CBS and many more

They're pawning their possessions for gas money. Jamie Clagett says he's never pawned anything before but today he has no choice.

“Gas is outrageous. I need money,” says Clagett. Clagett says he's down to a quarter of a tank so he brought in his car stereo and a stack of DVD's.

He's hoping to get at least $50. “It's $42. Interest is $10.50 for 30 days,” the clerk said.

He plans to put every penny in his gas tank even though $42 won't come close to filling his truck up.
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High gas prices forcing some to pawn their favorite things

Pumped up gas prices are forcing some Mid-Southerners to pawn their favorite things.
At least one Arkansas Pawn shop manager said she has never seen such an increase in business as she has within the past year.
She said when gas goes up, business goes up.
"You have to have gas to go to work and that's the only way to get there is with gas and so there's really nothing you can do," Christy Dubar of Express Pawn said.
http://www.wmctv.com/global/story.asp?s=8216736
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Pump patrons turn to pawn shops for pre-payday loans

HAMPTON -- The pain at the pump is forcing some people to pawn anything of value to fill their tank until they get paid.
Pawn shop owners are seeing a whole new clientele come through the door as gas prices inch up. According to AAA, the national average for a gallon of regular rose to $3.53 Wednesday, another record.
Eve Epstein and her husband run Epstein Pawn in Phoebus. They say now more than ever people are coming through their doors desperate for a loan just to get by.
“They are having a hard time buying food, buying gas just to get to work,” said Epstein. “We’ve been here 25 years, almost, and this is the worst we’ve seen.”

http://www.wvec.com/news/topstories/stories/wvec_local_042308_pump_pawn_gas.920687aa.html
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People Turn To Pawn Shops In Faltering Economy

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.-- Mike’s Pawn Shop owner, Mike Cohen, has been in the pawn shop business for about 40 years. As a business owner, he's survived more than a few downturns in the economy.
 
In fact, people often turn to him first for quick cash when things get tight. Speaking about the economy Tuesday, Cohen said, “I think this one might be a little worse than most of them.”
 
Business at Mike's is likely up slightly, but what's really different is how clear people are when asking for a loan on one of their valuables.
 
“Where they used to not say what it was for, they do now. ‘I gotta buy gas for my car to go to work’,” Cohen said.

http://www.nbc13.com/gulfcoastwest/vtm/news.apx.-content-articles-VTM-2008-04-22-0013.html
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BUSY PAWN SHOPS

ILLINGS - Steve Brown from First National Pawn says April is usually a slower month in the pawning business, but this April has been unexpectedly busy. He attributes the rise in customers to recent price increases in everyday necessities.
"A lot of people are having to maybe do an extra loan that they hadn't planned on because of the price of gas," says General Manager Steve Brown. Brown also says that the shop is seeing more and more gold and silver coming through the doors.

http://www.kulr8.com/news/local/18029374.html
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Hard Times Mean Good Times for Pawn Shops

While many stores are struggling in these slow economic times pawn shops across the nation are doing well. It's a trend that's true here, too.

As people struggle to pay for rising gas and food prices, pawn shops become an answer for cheaper shopping, and some fast cash.

We explain why hard times mean good times for pawn shops. Sales are up for stores like Holmen Pawn.

"We have more inventories coming in and we're also selling more. If you have a tighter economy people are looking to spend less on items," says Nels Holley, the owner of Holmen Pawn.

http://www.wxow.com/News/index.php?ID=18896
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Sagging economy means booming business at pawn shops

SEATTLE - At Aurora Loans, owner Dean Berg says he's doing slightly more business than normal. More people are buying, selling and pawning guns, guitars and gold.
It seems more people are taking a second look at the second-hand bits and pieces of their lives..
That broken gold chain has probably been cluttering up somebody's jewelry box or sitting on a dresser top, so why not convert it to cash?
Tested for gold content and weighed, the chain might get you $50.
It's the same story on the Eastside at Yuppie Pawn, where more pawning means better shopping.

http://www.king5.com/business/stories/NW_042208WAB_pawn_shops_economy_SW.8d712f13.html
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High gas prices mean big business for pawn shops

EL PASO, Texas - In El Paso, there's no question high gas prices combined with a struggling economy are making everyday living costs more difficult. For some, selling their valuable is the only option to survive.
"Jewelry...coins. Anything they can exchange for money so that they can get by," said Hector Garcia, manager of Quality Coin, Jewelry and Loans.
At Hector Garcia's pawnshop in Central El Paso, business is booming. People come in to sell or trade old jewelry, watches and coins, just to get a little extra cash. It's a full spectrum of customers.

"From people who are on a fixed income to people who have money," Garcia said.

http://www.kvia.com/global/story.asp?s=8218078

Read more: http://www.wciv.com/news/stories/0408/513531.html

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Mods: What's interesting is that there are DOZENS of stories from across the country about people pawning their things to pay for GAS. Collectively, this is a big, big story.

I included a BUNCH but there are many, many more here: http://news.search.yahoo.com/news/search?p=pawn&c=

[texastoast]

1. Gas prices have certainly inspired some Pukes to take the bus

The bus I take is normally about 2/3 full. I live in a neighborhood of oil company employees. Not a seat today. Good.

[LynneSin]

2. I am so glad my company moved us back downtown

Today is the first time since March I've had to fill-up my gastank and I started the month with half a tank.

I hate the bus but I love the money I save!

[Miss Authoritiva]

3. It isn't as though we weren't warned, and it isn't as though this isn't a democracy.

Not only are Americans so frickin' passive, we're also energy retarded. Iceland started building hydrogen fuel cell "gas stations" for cars years ago; Japan, Germany, France, Switzerland, and other European countries have comprehensive commuter train systems; Spain is building incredible solar farms; and France and Holland, among others, have long had industrial wind farms.

And all Americans can think to do is go to the pawn shop to raise some cash to fill their gas tanks.

[notesdev]

4. France does it with nuclear power

And if people here started realizing that nuclear power is the "greenest" source of energy that we have, that can make any significant impact on our overall energy use, we'd do what they have done since the 1970s and immediately get to building about 400 more of the things.

[brentspeak]

5. Then you should consider advocating for one to be built in your own neighborhood

When I see nuclear power fans asking for reactors built in their own backyards, I might take the idea seriously.

[notesdev]

6. Why not?

There are plenty of decent sites for a nuclear power plant in this part of the country, I wouldn't object to one - especially if it means not having a coal plant with all the attendant pollution.

A nuclear power plant isn't a problem for people whose understanding of physics isn't stuck in Cold War popular myth.

[Lorentz]

7. Fine by me.

I have a house that's a few miles from the Limerick generating station in PA. Wouldn't think of living anywhere else.

[sbyte]

9. Great to hear someone talking about nuclear power .

Glad to hear some positive opinions. And I though it was taboo to even speak the word. Ya sure don't see many politicians vocabulary.

[LanternWaste]

19. I'll take one... n/t

I'll take one...

[pokercat999]

25. I'm not exactly a fan of nuclear power but I do live about

six miles or so from a nuclear power plant on Lake Anna, VA. They are/have applied for a permit to build another reactor on that site. Workers in the area are excited about the prospect.

I always figured if there is a really serious problem we might as well live this close and get it over with fast as opposed to 40 miles away and die slowly.
:evilgrin:

[girl gone mad]

11. France is in danger of having to shut down..

more than two thirds of their nuclear plants over the next three decades due to rising temperatures, flooding and drought along the Rhone and other rivers.

Right now they are running plants that would have been shut down just a few years ago because the intake water used to cool the reactors is too hot, and the water draining from the reactors is too hot, posing a major risk to local plants and animals.

All nuclear plants are heavily subsidized, something we currently can't well afford. Very few ever return the initial investment and maintenance costs.

Promoting conservation is far better option.

[notesdev]

13. Conservation

Can, at best, deal with maybe 2% of the problem. It's a good thing, but it's not a solution on its own. Likewise, alternative energy sources like solar. The impact is too small to change the situation substantially.

It's a pick-one (or more) situation: coal, oil, or nuclear. Oil isn't working out as well as we'd like. Overall, nuclear power is a lot cleaner than coal power.

Energy prices control the price of everything else to a substantial degree. If we cut back on energy that necessarily means cutting back on goods, and there's only so far that people will sacrifice in the name of the environment. It is prudent to take a position that states, let's generate the power we need in as responsible a way as we can.

[girl gone mad]

14. Nuclear plants can only produce electricity.

Less than 1/3 of the energy we need is electricity. We need an oil alternative, and nuclear is not it.

Conservation can achieve a far greater reduction in consumption than 2%. Increased cafe standards and energy efficiency requirements for businesses, homes, light bulbs, appliances, etc. could make a much bigger impact than moving to build nuclear plants would. There are many factors than greatly limit the number of nuclear plants we could build and our money would be better spent investing in renewable clean energy.

[dysfunctional press]

17. electric cars would change that drastically.

there is NO WAY to "conserve" ourselves out of the situation that we're in.

[Robb]

27. Indeed

We have a saying out in the West that you can't conserve your way out of a drought. Rain has to come, or eventually you're screwed.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

15. 2%!? my butt...

My family uses just 50% of the energy we did a few years ago. It's not that hard to do, and our lifestyle has hardly changed.

You need to try harder.

[Ignis]

20. Great points, GGM.

People also tend to overlook that trifling matter called "radioactive waste" in their rush to green up nuclear power.

Just ship it all to Nevada and forget about it, eh? :banghead:

[truedelphi]

8. Hey they killed Kennedy, MLK Jr, Bobby Kennedy, then stole

Two elections in a row, got us in an illegal war they have no intention of ending, left people to rot in the wake of Katrina and only when gas prices goes up overnight do people wake up.

[DemocratInSoCal]

18. People HAVEN'T Woken Up

The SHEEP are still sleeping, figuring this will all blow over.

The GIANT TRUCKS, SUV'S, HUMMERS still Race down the street to the next red light, burning fuel along the way.

People are still MORONS, and they'll continue to be MORONS, even if they have to pawn everything they own in order to buy a tank of gas.

[pokercat999]

12. I believe those other countries......

ARE DEMOCRATCIES !!!!

[Miss Authoritiva]

23. Of course they are.

My point about saying "and it isn't as though this isn't a democracy" is that Americans have always had the chance/option to vote in representatives at every level of government who were for comprehensive energy and transportation reforms, to boycott exploitative companies, and to call for "follow the money" investigations into these speculative commodities surges.

But Americans are too busy and/or too indifferent and/or too thoroughly indoctrinated. We always seem to wait until, figuratively and now literally, we're heading out to the pawn shop.

[pokercat999]

24. We are correct......nt

[JackintheGreen]

10. And the scheit thing here in Philly is

that commuting by train doesn't really save any money now, since they raised the prices last winter.

[onehandle]

16. Atrios reported that even with the rate hike, ridership is up.

Which was unexpected by the train operation.

My wife and I are working on moving to Philly. Bringing our bikes.

[OhioChick]

21. K&R

:kick:

[FlyingSquirrel]

22. You can get bikes pretty cheap at the pawn shop

;)

I've been taking a bus in to work these days.

[pokercat999]

26. Now that's funny !

Pawn my bike so I can buy more gas....
:rofl: