AURORA, Colo. – A long, scratched-up coffin will likely catch the eyes of customers who walk into Pasternack’s Pawnshop in Aurora, Colorado. The owner of the shop, Scott Pasternack, said it was traded in for a cash loan within the last year.
The eerie-looking box is just one of many personal belongings people are pawning at a record pace. Pasternack said the onslaught started when the economy began to take hits.
“Our loans have gone through the roof with the economy being much lower and people needing more money,” Pasternack said.
“As times have gotten tougher, and inflation rates, have caused me to come in once a month now selling things,” the man from Aurora said.
People are also buying plenty of things at this shop as well. Roxi Kessler was excited about being able to afford a used vacuum cleaner.
“You can’t afford anything ’cause gas prices are so damn high it raises the prices of everything. Food, insurance, everything. The price is just skyrocketing. You can’t afford to buy anything new,” Kessler said.
She’s not alone — at least 30 million unbanked or underbanked American households use pawnshops each year, according to the National Pawnbrokers Association.
