Pawn Shops Seeing More Personal, Family Items Gone To Hock

INDIO – From family heirlooms to high-end personal merchandise, almost everything has gone to hock at Valley pawn shops in these difficult economic times.

People are forced to give up things just to get by with quick cash.

“We see a lot of people who are distressed from the position they are in,” said pawn broker Haki Dervishi at One Stop Pawn Shop in Indio. “I’m getting more people that have to pawn their tools or people have different trades. If they pawn their tools, then they wouldn’t have a way to make a living.”

Chris Altair is no stranger to pawn shops. He’s bought things from them before. But he never thought he would have to pawn something much less his father’s gold watch.

“I still plan on keeping it, which is why I only pawned it. I didn’t sell it,” Altair explained. “But with the economy the way it is today, I needed some extra money and I had to do this.”

Many people have come to the One Stop Pawn Shop to pawn things that have sentimental value to them.

However, the owners of the shop say, for them, it’s about more than just making a quick buck.

“We make our share, but we have to kinda work with people by their needs,” Haki Dervishi explained. “We work by peoples’ needs and not what they want because we don’t get what we want either. We just are going by their needs.”

Haki, who owns the One Stop Pawn Shop with wife Sue, has seen certain heirlooms gone to hock at the pawn shop.

“Obviously, we can’t pay for sentimental value but it’s nice of people to recognize that they have sentimental value for it and I’ve grown over the years to see that it’s not just about grabbing whatever it is they have.”