Pawn shops are rapidly becoming popular in the United States writes Andria Cheng:

• It all began with the 2008 financial crisis when families desperate to raise cash, sold their items to pawn shops.
• However while at the stores they began to see the kinds of discounts – sometimes as high as 70% – that they offered.
• People then started to buy more items from pawn stores, including high value items such as luxury watches and diamonds that cost thousands of dollars.
• The History Channel show Pawn Stars also helped to remove the stigma associated with visiting a pawn shop.
• The stores themselves began to move to upscale neighbourhoods and built nicer looking interiors.
• The shops are also starting to build an online presence to advertise their wares.
• However as the economy continues to improve the pawn industry faces an uncertain future.

Read more about the rise of the pawn shop, some of the drawbacks of shopping from them, and the kinds of people who are now starting to buy from them over here.

Source: Market Watch