Switch to the mobile version of this page.

Catch-All

        
Tweet

Email

Print
Share

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Catch-All

TV Success of 'Hardcore Pawn' Spawns 2nd Pawnshop in Pontiac

Posted By Jim McFarlin on Tue, Aug 23, 2011 at 12:21 PM

The slogan of Detroit’s massive American Jewelry and Loan on Greenfield is “Where Detroit Cashes In.” Apparently the pawnshop’s owners, the Gold family, take their message to heart: The overwhelming success of Hardcore Pawn, the reality TV series set within their store and the most-watched show on truTV, has motivated them to cash in with a second location in Pontiac.

The Golds have purchased the inventory of the former Premier Jewelry & Loan at 29 S. Telegraph in the Tel/Huron Plaza. Their grand opening and first official day of operation was Monday, Aug. 22.

“We believe our name is going to carry us over there,” says Seth Gold, the store’s young co-owner, who adds that a management team is being assembled for the satellite facility. “If not, then it’s all about the location, not about the owners.”

American Jewelry and Loan owner and patriarch Les Gold deemed the new store a can’t-lose proposition, leaping at the opportunity with the same gusto he displayed in deciding his family should star in their own national cable TV reality show three years ago.

But who’s going to run the new store? “That’s a good question!” Seth says, laughing. He says the plan at present is for at least one of the three principals – Les, Seth or Ashley Gold Broad, American’s feisty general manager – to be on site in Pontiac at all times.

That means the Detroit visitors and Hardcore Pawn fans who travel from as far as Florida and Washington State to see American Jewelry and Loan and meet the Golds now will have a second stop to make.

“We just had a tour bus come in to take a tour of the building, about 150 people,” Seth marvels. “It’s crazy, just crazy! But you’ve got to ride it while you can.”

Tags: Hardcore Pawn, Les Gold, Seth Gold, Ashley Broad, Iggy, American Jewelry & Loan, Juggalos, A Will of Fortune

We welcome readers to submit letters regarding articles and content in Detroit Metro Times. Letters should be a minimum of 150 words, refer to content that has appeared on Detroit Metro Times, and must include the writer's full name, address, and phone number for verification purposes. No attachments will be considered. Writers of letters selected for publication will be notified via email. Letters may be edited and shortened for space.

Email us at letters@metrotimes.com.

Support Local Journalism.
Join the Detroit Metro Times Press Club

Local journalism is information. Information is power. And we believe everyone deserves access to accurate independent coverage of their community and state. Our readers helped us continue this coverage in 2020, and we are so grateful for the support.

Help us keep this coverage going in 2021. Whether it's a one-time acknowledgement of this article or an ongoing membership pledge, your support goes to local-based reporting from our small but mighty team.

Join the Metro Times Press Club for as little as $5 a month.