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August 12, 2010 - Image 49

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Detroit Jewish News, 2010-08-12

Disclaimer: Computer generated plain text may have errors. Read more about this.

Arts & Entertainment

Good As Gold

The business life of the Gold family — proprietors of Detroit's biggest pawnshop
comes to the small screen.

Suzanne Chessler
Special to the Jewish News

A

mong the jewelry, televisions,
furs, computers, paintings, cam-
eras, chairs and one-of-a-kind
attic stashes — some 45,000 items pawned
and held at American Jewelry and Loan in
Detroit — can be found Judaica pieces.
Les Gold and his family, who run the
business, have handled menorahs, mezu-
zahs, kiddush cups and Star of David
necklaces.
Diverse customers, some seeking money
and others seeking bargains, come into the
store at a rate of about 1,000 a day. Many
open up with dramatic reasons for having
to pawn valued belongings or having to
hunt for cut-rate gifts.
Two unusual transactions, involving a
full-grown horse and stripper pole, come
into play for the opening episode of a new
reality TV series, Hardcore Pawn, which
showcases members of the Gold family
and their business. Customer stories also
are part of the series; the first program
allows viewers to see what happens to a
woman missing her pawn ticket.
Hardcore Pawn, with eight half-hour
episodes, premieres in back-to-back
shows 10 p.m. Monday, Aug. 16, on truTV.
Entering into the production segments are
Gold's daughter, Ashley Broad, 32, and son,
Seth Gold, 29.
"This series will depict what a pawn
shop actually does:' says Les Gold, 60, who
learned the business from his grandfather,
Sam Rubin, and his father, Lou Gold. "It
shows our customers coming in, and it
shows us in action."
The production team filmed thousands
of pawns over four months and selected
the ones that contained the most exciting,
dramatic or entertaining elements, which
in turn should make the best TV.
The store, with 50,000 square feet on
Greenfield just south of Eight Mile Road,
is seen inside and out as bargaining takes
off between Gold and customers. Family
dynamics remain strong as his son and
daughter give their opinions about what
should be accepted and at what prices.
"Times are tough, and people are bring-
ing in everything and anything of value;'
Gold says. "Our customers come from
Detroit, West Bloomfield and everywhere

American Jewelry and Loan's Les Gold, center, with his children, Seth Gold, left, and

Ashley (Gold) Broad

in between. We are there to help people
from all walks of life needing money, and
we want them to come back.
"We don't want to keep any items
because we can do better if a person
pawns today, gets it out in a month, brings
it back in two months and takes it out in
another three months. We'd rather not sell
people's items:'
Gold learned the business at Sam's Loans,
started in the 1940s on Michigan and Fifth
by his maternal grandfather. The business
moved to Michigan and 14th in 1962.
Ten years after becoming partners with
his dad in 1971, Gold went off on his own
to start American Jewelry and Loan. With
moves during the 1980s, when his dad
closed the original business, Gold kept
expanding and bought his current loca-
tion in 1993.

"We consider ourselves 2010 compatible,'
Gold says. "This is not people coming into
a dark, dingy pawnshop represented by the
movie The Pawnbroker with Rod Steiger."
Gold's children, who help keep the busi-
ness up to date, have some singular func-
tions in the opening segment of the series.
Broad, who serves as general manager, ral-
lied for the horse because she wanted it for
herself and keeps it on a farm. Seth Gold,
who takes on personnel and advertising
tasks, is shown not always agreeing with
the decisions made by his dad.
"I've taught them that this is not an easy
business:' Gold says. "They have to know
value, and they have to be strong-hearted.
People will try to take advantage, and it's
important to understand the difference
between truth and lying."
Working more behind the scenes is Les

Gold's wife, Lili, who designed the layout of
the building and its offices and wraps gifts
during the holidays. Her dad, Henry Raiber,
has assisted with operations for 20 years.
"Some of the scenes showing unhappy
customers don't happen very often:' Gold
says. "The pawning, buying and selling are
what's really going on. Very seldom do we
have arguments with our customers!'
The idea for the series came about after
American Jewelry and Loan participated in
a "Be Jerry Springer for a Day" promotion
as part of television advertising. The pro-
ducers of the Springer show got Springer's
production company interested in shooting
the pilot (a different production company
handles the rest of the series).
"The pawn business is going up because
people need it for two reasons — to get
money and to save money:' says Gold,
shown strict about security in the series.
Although the pricing of items varies as
the value of items go up and down, pawn
interest rates in Michigan have remained
the same since 1917, Gold explains. The
interest rate per month is 3 percent, and
there is a $1 monthly storage charge.
"I've kept lots of items that haven't been
picked up," says Gold, whose office holds a
mounted lion and whose home has televi-
sion sets never claimed."Fortunately, I don't
have to sell everything that we take in:'
Some items are given away as part of
charity activities.
"I'm involved with Temple Shir Shalom
and the Corners, and we donate a lot of
items to Jewish causes:' says Gold, whose
most frequent giveaways have been televi-
sions and computers. "We also donate to
soup kitchens and organizations that serve
people who are mentally challenged."
While Gold remains happy about work-
ing with family and taking home bargains,
he tries to leave any disagreements at the
office.
"It's important for my children to
understand that we are just like our cus-
tomers," he says. "We're very fortunate to
have roofs over our heads and can afford
to do the things we love to do, but it's very
easy to lose everything and come to a
pawn shop." El

Hardcore Pawn debuts 10 p.m.

Monday, Aug. 16, on truTV.

iN

August 12 • 2010

45

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