New Thing #266--Pawn

I was in South St. Louis today, and had some time to kill before an appointment. It was another beautiful day, and I decided to pass the time by walking around the neighborhood. This area has a lot of small restaurants and shops, one of which caught my eye. Today I shopped in a pawn shop.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I walked up to the shop, which was in an old-fashioned storefront with a big glass display window. The front window had displays of diamond rings, gold earrings, and tools. When I went inside, I saw a little bit of everything--jewelry, electronics, cameras, musical instruments, video games and DVDs, tools, guns, and knives. There was a LOT of merchandise crammed into the small store!

The store clerk, an older man, greeted me when I came in, and asked if there was anything he could help me with. I told him I was just browsing, and said to let him know if he could help.

There was a glass-topped display case that stretched around all three sides of the store. Jewelry took up one complete side. It was arranged by category-rings, earrings, bracelets, and necklaces; within the categories the gold and silver pieces were grouped together. Some of the jewelry that was displayed was very reasonably priced, but I thought that some of it was overpriced. Everything looked like it could use a good cleaning.

The electronics section was small, and most of the models were not state-of-the art. All of the larger things (VCRs, DVD players, and computers) were sitting on top of the display case, but the more expensive things, like cameras and game systems, were inside the case. The small selection of DVDs were very cheap-two and three dollars each. The video games were all older titles.

Since I have no interest in musical instruments, tools, guns, or knives, I just glanced at those sections from across the room. However, there seemed to be a good selection of tool boxes and power tools. There were several guitars (both acoustic and electric) hanging on the wall.

After I'd seen everything I wanted to see, it was time to leave. The clerk thanked me as I left the store, and told me to come again.