Chris has been managing the Empire Loan outpost at 358 Broad Street, Providence Rhode Island, for the past three years.  She came up through the ranks, so to speak, after stints as a part-time (start-date August 1994), and then full-time Customer Service Associate, and while she was pursuing her career (and first love) as a sought-after Cranston RI hair stylist.  She obtained her stylist Certificate from the Arthur Angelo School in the late 1990’s, at which point she was working full-time for Empire.  Her talent and affability have earned her a stable core of returning “essential” hair dressing clientele, ensuring that she won’t lose her touch soon in the course of becoming an essential member of the Empire enterprise. 

This is Chris’ first time managing a retail outlet and a crew of employees, and after three years she is loving the gig.

“It’s a great feeling that [co-owner] Jeff can rely on me, that he puts his trust in me, and that he no longer even needs to come to the store that often…”

There is a lot more behind these words than first meets the eye, for in spite of the Broad Street store dealing exclusively in jewelry and gold items (no musical instuments, electronics, or objets d’art) for purchase, pledge, or sale, it is located in and serves a neighborhood and part of town that is “in transition” and challenging.  There are crucial people and culture skills and sensitivities required, both towards the clientele and the crew, to negotiate what can be a combustible combination:  Diverse origins, language differences, relatively low economic status, and money.  Yet the Broad Street store maintains, according to Chris, a steady roster of returning customers, and the store keeps up with the Empire average redemption rate of 92%.  Chris has made an effort to learn Spanish, for example, and has established, with the help of co-pilot Edith, a neighborhood resource which customers have learned to trust, and come to feeling comfortable that they will be listened to and not be spoken down to or over their heads.  So when “Jeff…no longer needs to come to the store that often…,” it’s not just about knowing that Chris can masterfully handle the daily accounting and security and staff management and customer service and a thousand what-have-you’s.  It is also (if not more) about being a trusted right hand in the greater Empire project of serving the neighborhoods and comunities in which it operates, by being a true “anchor” business.  Pawn Talk was most impressed by how pithily Chris makes the point:  Empire “is an asset to the neighborhood, where its customers rely on being respected.”

Chris has been happily married for thirteen years, is raising three dogs, and enjoys cruises and visits to Las Vegas, and clubbing to see live bands, including What Matters, Chip of Empire New Bedford’s band.  She highly recommends them, and next time you drop in to see her at Broad Street, you can count on getting some great tips on the local nightlife, alongside an expert appraisal of your diamond bracelet!

 

 

 

 

 

Mark Weiner has just celebrated his 18th year with Empire Loan, and for the last ten has been the Manager and Empire Loan’s Man-On-the-Spot at its New Bedford store, located on Acushnet Avenue. Read the rest of this entry »

Abby Levine, Assistant Manager at our Washington Street, Boston store, celebrated her 20th anniversary at Empire Loan this past September, 2008. Michael Goldstein, Owner and Beloved Leader, hired her, as she points out, two weeks before he got married. This was when the (original) store was open until 9 PM, and she was able to work there part-time while pursuing degrees in Teaching and Special Education at Leslie University. Having graduated and obtained her degrees, however, Abby decided to sign on to Empire as a full-time employee, as this opportunity afforded her a better and more reliable income, which she felt was of paramount importance, in light of her decision to adopt a baby and raise it as a single mom. Read the rest of this entry »

Mark Foreman - An Exemplary Life

Mark Foreman, Empire Loan’s North Main St. General Manager, will be retiring in March 2009. He will have put in almost 20 years’ service at the company. In his quiet and unassuming way, he has lived an exemplary life of service to his community - as a Navy man, as a member of the Warwick police, and as an expert Pawnbroker and store manager. In his many professional incarnations, a common thread runs through them all: Helping people, and serving as a bulwark of his community. He has thrived in both the public and private sectors of society, and has quite simply been an inspiration to us all. Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome to the Empire Loan Spring newsletter. We’ve put together a few articles that should get you even more familiar with Empire and some of the great people who work here. Each edition, we’ll highlight one of our many valued employees. We’ll start this feature with Abby Levine. She’s been at Empire Loan in Boston since 1988. 21 years!! Abby’s an assistant manager who handles customer correspondence and many other day to day tasks. She’s well known as a problem solver and our customers know that she’ll be there to help when they need her.

Bob has put together some interesting items in Bob’s Pick and make sure to click on the Guitar talk button on the newsletter for the cool stuff happening in our Providence location.

It’s been a very busy winter here at Empire, as the gold fever continues to drive people to sell unwanted jewelry. We’ve seen growth in all 5 locations. Our website is currently getting ready to launch our online merchandise center to help augment this growth.

Finally, it looks like the economy may be turning a very small corner. Credit may begin to flow soon which should help stimulate some consumer spending and get this huge ball rolling in the right direction again. Well, here at Empire, in good economic times and bad, we’ve managed to maintain our market share and provide good service at a good price. We’ll be here if the Dow Jones goes to 20000 or if it sinks to 5000. Empire Loan will keep to the fundamentals of what has helped build our strong business. Our hope continues to Spring Eternal!

All the Best Wishes for a Great Spring!

Michael Goldstein

President, Empire Loan