What People are Saying About Empire Loan
| “Hocking goes high class! Empire Loan is giving the banks a run for their money!”
“Empire Loan adds a new flavor to pawnbroking and everyone’s eating it up!”
“Second time’s a charm! Empire Loan delivers on quality goods at great prices!”
“Pawnshops- for loans and bargains! Empire loan puts a bank and discount shopping under one roof!”
“Hocking the fruits of the binge- Empire Loan’s services are solace for victims of the economy!”
“Empire Loan is selling a new image for pawnshops! Upscale respectability is in! Down and out stereotyping is out!”
“Empire Loan is a terrific source for people looking to buy high end estate and diamond jewelry at a 60 percent discount over retail.”
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Shop Owner’s Find Music to Students’ Ears
| An alert pawn shop owner yesterday helped two Boston music students recover their prize Italian string instruments, which were stolen during an apartment break-in over the weekend. A $17,000 violin, made in 1737 In Genoa, and a $30,000 viola made in Cremona Italy in 1927 were recovered yesterday after Boston Police arrested two men in connection with the theft. The violin belongs to Ben Krieth. a sophomore at the New England Conservatory of Music. The viola belongs to his roommate, David Quiggle, a freshman member of the honors string quartet at the conservatory.Quiggle discovered his apartment at 313 Huntington Ave. had been broken into Saturday evening. Yesterday the two students distributed flyers describing the the stolen instruments to numerous pawn shops and music stores.Around 11:l0 a.m., they went to the Empire Loan Shop on Washington Street in the South End and spoke with store owner Michael Goldstein. Twenty minutes later, said Goldstein, a man walked into the store wanting to sell a violin. Goldstein said the store does not generally buy violins, but he took the instrument to a back room and confirmed that it matched the description given by Krieth.
“Meanwhile we stalled the guy out front while someone called the police. About two minutes later, two police officers were here to make an arrest Goldstein said.
Detectives John Martel and Mark Coleman responded and arrested Frank Gumbs 41, of 27 Laurel St., Roxbury, and Stephen Keizer, 35, of 68 West Concord St., in the Sought End. Both were charged with receiving rlolen goods and will be arraigned today in Boston Municipal Court.
Martel said the two men told police they could find the viola at 82 Camden St., in Roxbury. The instrument was recivered there unharmed, he said, along with its $5,000 bow and $630 worth of travelers checks also stolen.
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-David Weber,
The Boston Herald |
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The New, Upscale Pawnbrokers
| …Empire Loan is a computerized operation with wall-to-wall carpeting and friendly clerks eager to serve. Customers are equally anxious to buy when they see the price tags on jewelry, musical instruments, camera and stereo equipment. With most goods priced at 60 percent less than retail, merchandise move quickly. “We do a tremendous amount of retail sales,” said [owner, Michael] Goldstein.Karen and Joe, a couple from the North Shore, come regularly to Empire Loan to purchase camera equipment. On their last trip to the store, they purchased four 35 mm cameras (three Cannons and a Nikon), for a total of $325. Karen said that she comes to Empire Loan “because they give us a very good deal.”[Empire Loan's owner] pointed out that, contrary to the stereotype, pawnshop customers are not all blue-collar workers. Approximately 60 percent of Empire Loans clientele live in Dorchester, Mattapan, Roxbury, and Boston, but the rest come from suburbs such as Brookline, Watertown and Waltham. More than 200 Brookline residents have pawned at Empire Loan, and a Chestnut Hill man has pawned 10 early American oil paintings for $32,000. “There has always been a middle-class segment of the population that has pawned”….
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-Deborah Feldman,
The Brookline Citizen |
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