Wednesday, July 9, 2014

What is The Pawnshop?


In the most simplistic terms, a Pawn Shop is a business that engages in collateral-based lending. Given this, it also sells items that have been left by borrowers and most Pawn Shops buy items outright for sale. The practice of collateral-based lending has been around since ancient times, but became a popular enterprise in Italy in the Middle Ages. In the beginning, pawning was practiced as an act of charity by the Franciscan Monks who lent money on tangible goods without charging interest. It has been reported that this enterprise was picked up on by the famous Italian banking family, the Medici's who then turned it into a for-profit business.

Pawn Shops have grown by leaps and bounds in the United States - especially in the last 5 years. We are very familiar with the famous Pawn Shop in Las Vegas depicted in the hit reality television show Pawn Stars. A Pawn Shop in Georgia is credited with the beginning one of the first online pawn shops and a Pawn Shop in Los Angeles recently helped police nab a burglary suspect by following the trail of stolen goods. And, if you're looking for a Pawn Shop in Florida you don't need to look far as the latest consensus shows Dade County Florida having more pawn shops than any other country due to the flailing economy. Pawn Shops are a fixture of the American business landscape and will surely continue to grow be so for centuries to come.

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Ruby - July Stone of the Month











A new month brings a new Stone of the Month. The Stone of the Month for July is Ruby. Ruby is considered one of the four precious stones and is a red variety of the mineral Corundum. Its name comes from ruber, Latin for red. Ruby is the birthstone for July and also a traditional gift for those celebrating 15th or 40th anniversaries.

Here at Gems N’ Loans we take our gems seriously and Ruby is no exception! Throughout the month of June we are offering 50% off the Stone of the Month, some exclusions may apply. Come in today and take a look at our selection.