Falcon Pawn and Loan opened in February on McLaughlin Road near Heritage Cleaners in Falcon, Colorado. Owners and long-time Falcon residents Rick Looper and Greg Solberg hope their experience in the industry and in the community will make their business a positive option for shopping and securing collateral loans.ìWe wanted to open in Falcon because we’re both from Falcon,î Looper said. ìGreg’s been here all his life, and I’ve been here since junior high.î Looper has about 26 years of experience in the pawn business in Colorado Springs.The store will accept collateral loans, sales and consignment of almost any goods, but Looper and Solberg expect that their gold and firearm lines will be the most popular. The company’s federal firearm license was still in process at press time, but is expected to be delivered soon.The customers that came in the store in the opening week were excited to have the pawn store in the community. ìIt’s more fun than anything to come in and bargain with somebody,î said Tracy Archer, who bought a power sanding tool. ìIt’s like an ongoing garage sale. You don’t have to be in hard times to go to a pawn shop. They might have tools you need, and if you have something you don’t need any more you can swap it out. It’s a beautiful thing, and I’m glad to see it here.îMisconceptions about pawn shops range from them being dark and seedy to the over-glamorized image of their merchandise through shows like Pawn Stars on the History Channel. ìThe big thing for people to learn is that pawn stores and collateral lenders were the very first banks in the world,î Solberg said. ìThe shopping for interesting things is part of it, but we’re a lending institution based on collateral.î The collateral is something of value the customer pawns, which is retrievable in 30 days at 20 percent interest. Some payday loan companies charge more than 35 percent, Solberg said.ìCredit doesn’t matter; the value of the item and the relationships we build do,î he said. ìEighty percent of people nationwide come back to retrieve their stuff. If someone can’t or doesn’t want to do business with the banks across the street, they can always do business with us.îFalcon Pawn and Loan is located at 7360 McLaughlin Road and can be reached at 719-247-9941.
