A woman looks into a pawnbroker shop window that is filled with watches and jewelry on a city street.
Whether it’s a wedding ring traded in for a short-term loan or a family heirloom exchanged to cover a utility bill, more Americans are turning personal belongings into quick cash.
Pawn shops, often overlooked in broader economic data, are starting to reflect shifts that don’t always show up on Wall Street. Even as the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite (1) push to record highs, demand for small, fast loans backed by personal items appears to be rising.
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At Empire Loan in Stoughton (2), customers regularly walk in with jewelry and leave with cash in hand, but who those customers are is beginning to change. CEO Michael Goldstein, who has…
