Pawnshop goes upscale with quick cash -- for payrolls

As the economy continues to sputter, pawnshops are doing better.

But they are not like the pawnshops of old -- gritty and dark, with counters set behind bulletproof glass. The new age pawnshop might best be represented on Long Island by Gold Coast Jewelry & Pawn on Jericho Turnpike in, of all places, tony Dix Hills. The store is airy, brightly lit and replete with shiny watches, motorcycles, fur coats, electric guitars, Civil War-era rifles and diamond engagement and wedding rings.

Co-owner Anthony Cutrone said the uneven economic recovery has accounted for more business executives coming to pawn watches. "They need to make their payroll," Cutrone said. "They come in a little reluctant, a little embarrassed," he said. "But you school them."

Cutrone and his business partner, Shmit Yuabov, a gemologist, decided to open a store seven months ago. They wanted to change the pawn industry's old image. "There was a time when it was a shameful place to walk into," Cutrone said. "Places were dark. We're trying to break that."

Cutrone and Yuabov say the shop is a way for businesspeople to get some ready cash -- more easily than getting a bank loan -- and they can get their items back as long as they return within four months. Cutrone said about 70 percent of customers get their items back.

The National Pawnbrokers Association said there are 10,000 such shops in the United States, compared with 13,500 in 2007. Association spokesman Emmett Murphy said larger chains have bought and closed smaller shops in the last few years. But soaring gold prices have boosted the shops that remain, he said. The shops have worked hard to change their image Murphy said.