TC's
Super Pawn Co. Jewelry Receives 2008 Best of Waterbury Award
U.S.
Local Business Association’s Award Plaque Honors the
Achievement
WASHINGTON
D.C., June 23, 2008 -- TC's Super Pawn Co. Jewelry has been
selected for the 2008 Best of Waterbury Award in the Pawn Shops
category by the U.S. Local Business Association (USLBA).
The
USLBA "Best of Local Business" Award Program recognizes
outstanding local businesses throughout the country. Each year,
the USLBA identifies companies that they believe have achieved
exceptional marketing success in their local community and
business category. These are local companies that enhance the
positive image of small business through service to their
customers and community.
Various
sources of information were gathered and analyzed to choose the
winners in each category. The 2008 USLBA Award Program focused on
quality, not quantity. Winners are determined based on the
information gathered both internally by the USLBA and data
provided by third parties. SOURCE: U.S.
Local Business Association.
Supporting
Our Communities
TC's
Pawn Company helps support local Disabled American Veterans
- June 13, 2008
As a
very proud participant in a fundraiser sponsored by "The
Magical Retail Mile" (Wolcott St & Lakewood Rd Business
Association) & The Waterbury Regional Chamber, TC's sold
miniature American flags at our Waterbury location along
with other members of the Association. On June 13, 2008
a flag
raising ceremony took place on Wolcott Rd in Waterbury, CT
and it was at that time our Assc. Chairperson Senator Robert Kane
presented our contribution to the DAV. We are proud to
support our local community and our Disabled American
Veterans.
Supporting
Our Communities...
TC's
Pawn Company Sends Inner City Youths to Summer Camp in Vermont
Presentation
of CamperShips on June 5, 2008 at The Hockanum Elementary.
From left to right are, the Honorable Mayor of East Hartford
Melody A. Currey, the authors of the 2 chosen essays &
Jay S., Regional Manager for TC's Pawn Company
East Hartford
Gazette Newspaper, June 25, 2008
Essay contest
winners are off to summer camp
By: John-James,
SPECIAL TO THE GAZETTE
"When
we opened our newest store in East Hartford, we wanted to
immediately get involved in the community," said Jay
Sargent, General Manager for TC's Pawn Company and Jewelry and
Electronics Exchange of both East Hartford and Waterbury.
For
years, TCs Pawn Co. was active with supporting Waterbury's
inner-city youth surrounding the company's original location.
Sargent was approached by the Stanavage family, a local family
active in the Waterbury community, and learned about Vermont's
Camp Farwell.
"The
Stanavage family had been sponsoring kids to attend Camp Farwell
for years," Sargent explained. "It was really close to
their hearts. We were humbled when asked to carry on the
legacy."
"I immediately saw this as a great opportunity,"
Sargent said. "Other companies and organizations sponsor
youth campership programs, but Camp Farwell looked like a unique
opportunity - something more personal and exciting. Right away
we wanted to bridge a relationship between the camp and East
Hartford inner-city kids."
Camp Farwell is the oldest continually summer camp exclusive for
girls. Nestled by the side of the majestic Hall's Lake in
Newbury, Vermont, the camp boasts 100-acres of lush forest,
meadows, and lakeside log cabins - rustic living at a place far
different than the concrete sidewalks, traffic, and urban sprawl
of the city. In this location, Camp Farwell focuses on providing
girls 9-16 years of age with an opportunity for "personal
growth, self-confidence, and an underlying appreciation of
nature's beauty."
At Camp Farwell, girls have an opportunity to forge friendships
and create lifelong memories. Further, girls from all over the
United States and worldwide visit the camp, so campers are able
to meet peers from a diversity of cultures. "This is a big
deal for a kid from the city," Sargent explained. "At
the camp there are tons of activities: horseback riding,
water-skiing, sailing, kayaking, and they have a petting zoo
where kids can help feed and care for the animals."
After TCs was committed to the venture, it became a matter of
selecting two lucky children to attend the summer camp. "We
arranged on a 3 week session at the height of the summer. It's
just beautiful up there [in Vermont] at this time of year,"
Sargent said. TCs contacted the Honorable Mayor of East
Hartford, Melody A. Currey, for assistance.
"The Mayor's office was quite helpful. The Mayor assisted
us and recommended Hockanum Elementary School in East
Hartford." Sargent met with Hockanum principal Lisa
Beauchamp and quickly there was an essay contest begun to select
just which kids would visit Camp Farwell. "There were great
essays," Sargent said. "It's hard to describe the
emotion behind many of the stories that the students told in
their writing." The Mayor's office, Principal Beauchamp,
and Sargent read and judged all of the essays. "We were all
really touched by the heartfelt writing of these bright
students," Sargent continued.
On June 5th, at the final school assembly of the year, Mayor
Currey and Sargent announced the two students selected to attend
Camp Farwell. There was great excitement in the air and everyone
in attendance was anxious for the news.
While only two students could be selected, Sargent proudly said,
"To me, they're all winners. But these two girls' essays
stood out. They are very bright kids with great personalities.
They're truly deserving of this."
Both students chose the topic "My Hero" and wrote
about family members who've inspired them and who have done much
for them throughout their young lives. One wrote of her mother
who is always there for her, through thick and thin.
The other wrote of her caretaker, her grandmother, who
persevered through adversity and tough times, but who always
strives to give her ward the best she can.
When TCs contacted the girls' guardians to announce that their
kids were headed for camp, there were smiles everywhere. One was
pleasantly surprised that a pawn shop would do such a thing for
her little girl.
"Most people have a stereotypical idea of a pawn shop as
business tucked away in a less desirable part of town,"
Sargent explained. "That's not the reality. TC's is a part
of the community. We provide the opportunity for people who need
a quick short-term loan and can't get it from a bank. What bank
is going to loan someone $100 to make the rent or $50 to fill
the gas tank?"
TC's Pawn Company and Jewelry and Electronics Exchange at 7
Pitkin St. Sargent, who is also President of the Connecticut
Pawnbrokers Association, said, "TC's stands apart as a
leader in our industry, and we believe it's important to give
back to the community. This is our chance to give some really
deserving kids memories that will last a lifetime."
Next, TCs will be taking the girls and their guardians on a
shopping spree at an area Target store. "They need a lot of
stuff for their trip," Sargent said. The list of things to
bring to Camp Farwell is extensive. Girls are asked to bring
selected items of clothing, bedding, toiletries and other items
specific to some of the camp activities like horseback riding,
water sports and softball.
"We want to be sure these kids have everything they need
for their adventure," Sargent added. Sargent said that TC's
wanted to give a special thanks to Honorable Mayor Currey,
Principal Beauchamp, Camp Farwell, the Stanavage family, and to
the two girls selected to attend the camp this summer.
In Difficult Economic Times, People Tend To Do What They Must To Make Ends
Meet -
BY WILLIAM WEIR |Courant
Staff Writer
JOSH TARNOCZY of TC's Pawn Co. in
East
Hartford tests an electric keyboard brought in by Danae Javinett, a Manchester
Community College student. Javinett said the $35 she got for the keyboard
and an electric guitar tuner would be used for gasoline and groceries. (MARK
MIRKO / June 13, 2008)
Consider some of the folks who passed through TC's Pawn Co.
in East
Hartford around lunchtime one recent day:
A 48-year-old plumber shopping for $1 CDs (he also bought an electric guitar
for $40 in the parking lot from a man who was planning to sell it to the
store); a 76-year-old woman buying a 14-karat gold ring for about $90 (she
also wanted to sell her humidifier, but found no takers); a community college
student selling a Casio keyboard for $25 to pay for gas and groceries; a
68-year-old retiree pawning for $600 a ring he says is worth $6,000, which he
expects to get back in a few weeks. Some were looking for deals, some just to
get by.
"In the recession that doesn't exist, according to George
Bush, people are losing their mortgages, and they pretty much get money
wherever they can get it," said Jay Sargent, owner of TC's Pawn at 7
Pitkin St.
Good economy or bad, the volume of business at pawnshops is fairly steady. The
difference is whether people are buying or selling, and who's doing it. In a
downturn, the clientele gets more diverse. Sargent nodded his head toward the
security monitor on the wall of his office. A woman at the counter who looks
to be in her early 40s is selling a couple of her rings.
"See, she's got her
Gucci
and her Burberry on," says Sargent, who has an eye for such things after
20 years in the business. "Does she look like your typical pawnshop
customer?"
Pawnbrokers have done their business for thousands of years with little change
in procedure or reputation. An air of desperation has always lingered around
any establishment bearing the three-ball logo, the pawn's international
symbol. But times are tough, and a lot of people are considering things they
hadn't before to make ends meet.
Whether it's a good idea to sell your stuff at a pawnshop, apparently a lot of
people do. According to the National Pawnbrokers Association, the number of
pawnshops in the U.S. has increased from 6,900 in 1988 to about 13,000 this
year.
If you've got some jewelry or a saxophone you want to hock, there are a few
things to know. For one, don't say "hock" — it automatically marks
you as a newbie in the pawn world.
People often confuse secondhand stores for pawnshops. But in addition to
buying and selling used goods, a pawnshop makes loans in exchange for items.
For instance, if you bring a watch into a pawnshop, you can either pawn it or
sell it outright. If you pawn the watch, it's essentially treated as a loan,
with the watch as collateral. You get a ticket for your item and have 60 days
to repay the loan with interest. During that time, the store must hold onto
it. After the 60 days are up, the item is forfeited and the store will mark up
the price significantly and sell it.
Interest rates and other fees vary. Sargent is otherwise forthcoming about the
pawn business, but he won't discuss his rates and fees.
Jewelry, especially gold, is the most popular item. Next are computers, and
then video game systems. Musicians and contractors get hit particularly hard
in bad times, Sargent says, and you'll find a lot of musical instruments and
power tools in the aisles.
Some pawnshops in Connecticut fit the popular image of "seedy little back
alley stores," as Sargent puts it. Even in midday, some require being
buzzed in from behind locked metal doors.
But TC's Pawn is brightly lit with neatly arranged aisles, and staffers —
all wearing official TC's T-shirts — politely ask customers if they need
help. Between his two stores, the 38-year-old Sargent employs 22 people and is
president of the Connecticut Association of Pawnbrokers. He talks about
cleaning up the image of pawnshops, and refers to his customers as "a
community."
About a mile from TC's in East Hartford is Fernando's Pawn, though the large
sign outside simply reads "PAWN SHOP." Located at 711 Burnside Ave.,
it's a sparse setup, with a glass counter bearing mostly jewelry, but also
some CDs, DVDs and video games.
The manager, Matt Conforto, is a talkative 24-year-old. He's interested in
jewelry and knows about appraising stones and metals, and figured the pawn
business was a good fit. The store competes with U-Pawn, directly across the
street at 700 Burnside, and customers often stop at both places before
finalizing deals. A man behind the counter at U-Pawn, a considerably less
media-friendly venue, says, "Take it down the road, I don't deal with any
newspapers."
The first customer to enter Fernando's is a fellow holding a can of beer in a
paper bag, and he immediately tells Conforto a story about how someone
recently paid him $50 to use his ID to sell some stuff at another shop. He
says he has some air conditioners and a Bowflex exercise set down the road and
needs a car to get them to the shop.
"I deal in a lot of hot [items]," the man says. Don't bring them in
here, Conforto replies.When the man learns that there is a reporter in the
shop, he introduces himself as "Joe Blow." Then he tries to cut a
deal with the reporter to transport the air conditioners, but strikes out
again.
Stolen goods are probably the biggest blot on the public image of pawnshops.
To that end, by state law, positive identification is required of customers
for all transactions. Stores also must report all pawns and purchases so that
local police can compare them to descriptions of stolen items. Officials at
the National Pawnbrokers Association say the problem isn't as bad as many
think, and estimate that less than one-tenth of 1 percent of all goods in
pawnshops are confirmed as stolen.
The next to stop in are teenagers from the shoreline. An 18-year-old from
Essex is selling a 1,000-watt Kenwood amplifier for his car stereo. Conforto
looks at it with suspicion. There's something odd about the steel plate, and
the serial number doesn't look the way serial numbers normally do. It could be
a knockoff, or stolen. Further inspection and discussion, though, sway
Conforto that his new customers are on the up-and-up.
The young man says he is moving to South Carolina with his mother and figures
it is better to get some money than ship all of his stuff. Conforto gives him
$50. Normally, he wouldn't bother with the amplifier. His boss told him to
concentrate on jewelry and air conditioners, which are almost as good as gold
during heat waves. But the amplifier is almost new and a particularly good
deal.
The teenager is happy to get $50, and Conforto says his boss can sell it on Ebay
for between $200 and $400. So why doesn't everyone just use eBay or craigslist?
For one thing, you can't beat pawnshops for speed. If you have what they want,
the shops are quick cash. And selling online sometimes means meeting with
strangers who want to look at your gold first.
In the world of pawnbroking, value is a fluid thing. What you bought it for or
what the appraisal books say don't matter that much. Says Sargent,
"Things are only worth what you can sell them for."
Look
for our newest Billboards on Interstate 91N & Interstate 84W in CT
January
26, 2008 - Republican-American Newspaper, Waterbury, CT
Gold
can be an economic indicator
Pawnbroker
sees trading on increase
T.J.
KIRKPATRICK REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN
Jay S., general manager of TC’s Pawn Co. on Lakewood Road
in Waterbury, weighs gold necklaces. The price of gold has hit
record levels and now more people are selling it to the pawnshop.
BY RICK HARRISON
REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN
Jay S. knows gold. As general manager of TC’s
Pawn Co. in Waterbury, he checks the gold market all day. He
watched in amazement as the price hit a brief record Jan. 15,
spiking to just over $914 an ounce. Gold closed at $912.30 an
ounce on Friday.
“I think it’s phenomenal,” S. said.
“It’s good for everyone. We benefit, and if the average
person is dealing with a fair and honest business buying the
gold, they are benefiting as well.” Gold isn’t just for
jewelry or buying stairways to heaven. Gold covers the inside
of focused lasers used in heart surgery. Car airbags,
computers and telecommunications equipment rely on electronic
contacts coated with the highly conductive element, and
satellites deflect solar radiation with golden surfaces.
Dentists use gold for fillings because it is malleable and resistant
to corrosion.
But beyond gold’s intrinsic value and practical
applications, its price can provide clues as to how people
feel about their finances and the global economy.
“It’s an indicator of a nervous economy,” said
Bill O’Neill, the managing director of LOGIC Advisors, a
market research and introducing brokerage firm in Upper
Saddle River, N.J. “To a very large extent, it can be a
psychological commodity. The view of the world.”
The price of gold rose about 32 percent last year and
about 200 percent over the last 10 years.
But it has fluctuated over the last century, peaking in
1980, when $900 an ounce would be worth about $2,300 today.
O’Neill says explanations for the most recent spike
involve more than the forces of supply and demand. He pointed
toward the slide in value of the U.S. dollar, the rising price
of oil, talk of a recession and instability in areas like the
Middle East.
“Gold is viewed as an alternative asset,”
O’Neill said. “A flight-to-safety vehicle. If you don’t
want to be in equities or in fixed income, historically gold
has filled that role.”
O’Neill said that in Connecticut, where many hedge
funds are located, people aren’t as comfortable investing
in equities.
“They have money to invest, and a lot of that is
flowing into commodities,” he said.
S. sees a more immediate impact of the surge in
gold prices. Over the last six to eight months, he’s noticed
an increase in people selling gold to his shop, which he links
to higher mortgage rates and the rising price of gas and
heating oil. He says they aren’t the type of customers
people might expect would visit a pawn broker.
“Someone with an upper level income and a
$3,000-a-month mortgage,” S. said. “With rates going
up, you see them in here now. Selling gold or jewelry they
don’t wear anymore to pay their mortgage.”
Jay S. sees this trend as an unfortunate part of a
dipping economy in which his business plays its part.
“We provide a service to people unable to get credit
or small loans,” he said. “We can help people save their
homes or pay their gas money to get to work.”
Even as individuals sell, new gold continues to enter
the market. Though nobody knows how much gold remains to be
mined, the U.S. Geological Survey reported that domestic gold
production increased by 2 percent from 2005 to 2006, tying
the United States with Australia as the second leading
gold-producing nations behind South Africa.
George Milling-Stanley, the gold market analysis
manager for the World Gold Council, said miners worldwide have
dug up about 160,000 metric tons of gold throughout history.
“If you were to melt it down into one great big cube, it
would fit quite comfortably under the first landing of the
Eiffel Tower,” Milling-Stanley said. “About 22 yards on a
side. It’s a little cube.”
At Friday’s closing price, that little cube would be
worth almost $4.7 trillion. Market analyst O’Neill said he
expects the price of gold to tip over $1,000 per ounce this
year.
Something to consider on a trip to the pawnshop.
Copyright (c) 2008 Republican-American
01/26/2008
Congratulations
to the winner of our Nintendo Wii Giveaway on 12-22-07! Samara
from Waterbury, CT
Samara
was very excited to win the Nintendo Wii Game System Giveaway from
TC's Pawn Company Jewelry and Electronics Exchange. She says
"my children wanted one so badly and I was unable to purchase
one for them". After screaming from excitement on the
telephone when she was informed she had won, she arrived at our
Waterbury, CT store very quickly and emotional to claim the prize.
We are so pleased that such a wonderful and deserving
customer was so thrilled! All of our staff would like to
wish her and her family a very Merry Christmas!
