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OLD KENT

COLD KENT BANK 1998

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0 OF

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1-800-914-3524

21211 Haggerty Road al 8 Nlile.
Next to the Novi Hilton.

1/16
1998

140

0

LENDER

MICIII GAN HERITAGE

FDIC

Insuml

88

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from page 138

Some of the best out-of-pawn buyers
also are regular pawn customers, said
the Gornbeins.
So what's the consumer get out of
pawning? First, if you need a short-term
loan of $1,000, the odds are good that
your bank isn't going to bother writing a
loan that small. And that's assuming you
even have a bank account. According to
Forbes Magazine, more than 75 million
Americans do not. For many pawnshop
customers, this is their bank.
A pawnshop transaction takes five
minutes and there's no credit history
required. It is the worth of the object,
not you, that determines the loan.
Surprisingly, brokers like Klein and
Silver say their biggest time of the year
isn't around the December holidays. It is
in August and September, because that's
when so many families have to deal
with back-to-school costs.
"We do a lot with business owners.
They need their payroll for the
month, and instead of losing their
employees, they'll come in and pawn
Presidential Rolex watches. These
aren't people who are destitute, they
just want to keep their business
going," she said.
In good or bad times, the pawnbro-
ker does well. "In good times, people
are careless. In bad times, they're in
deep," said Lew Silver, who is president
of the Michigan Pawnbrokers Group.
He and his family operate three stores:
the flagship at Nine Mile Road and
Greenfield, and shops in Troy and
Southgate.
Doug Schwartz at Al's Jewelry &
Loan on Gratiot, is a third-generation
pawnbroker. Entering his office, one is
well advised to step gingerly over the
boa constrictor in a wooden crate" onhis
floor. "I bought it from someone. Gave
him $100," said Schwartz.
The three-ball icon is still painted on
the side of an outside wall. Schwartz
thinks he's the last pawnshop in town
displaying the symbol.
Al's traces its roots back to 1922,
when it was founded by a pioneer
woman pawnbroker in a traditionally
male-dominated industry. "The business
was started by my grandmother, Cecilia
Schwartz, out of her home. When my
grandfather passed away, she had 10
children to support," said Doug
Schwartz.
Doug now runs the business by him-
self.
"We loan a lot on practically every-
thing — cars, diamonds, stereos, VCRs,
all types of jewelry, musical instruments,
golf clubs — anything that has any type
of value," said Schwartz. Li

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