Consumer
Pawn Shop Loans Spike as High Gas Prices Weigh on Americans
Signage offering cash for valuables outside of a pawn shop in downtown Los Angeles.
Photographer: Patrick T. Fallon/AFP/Getty Images
Pawn shop owners across the US say they’ve seen an increase in demand for loans in the past month or so, a sign of just how punishing higher gas prices are for some Americans.
“We’re making a lot more loans,” said Tim Cassidy, the fourth generation in his family to run Cassidy’s Jewelry & Loan in Stockton, California. “They have to have that gas, they have to get to work.”