A new series recently debuted on truTV called Hardcore Pawn: Chicago. The series follows brothers Randy and Wayne Cohen and their employees at Royal Pawn Shop in Chicago, IL.
Royal has been given a big media boost by American Mass Media, a marketing firm based out of Chicago, IL. This is the first national series for American Mass Media.
We recently caught up with the second family of pawn (the first being the Golds from Detroit, their show Hardcore Pawn also airing on truTV).
During the interview, Randy and Wayne caught me off guard a couple times. Both grew up and have lived all their life in Chicago. Wayne told me about how he knew now-President Obama back in the day. He played basketball with him every day and also had the locker next to him.
Randy and Wayne said that if you’re planning on going into the pawn breaking business, “don’t do it.” Really, they meant that if you’re planning on doing it, “don’t get caught off guard in this business.”
“You have to know everything that you’re doing at all times”, the brothers said. "Street and book smarts are very important."
Randy and Wayne remarked highly of all of their staff and also mentioned that the security staff have helped to stop some pretty big heists in the store.
"We stopped a $25,000 jewelry heist one time where the person who robbed us broke the windows during store hours. Thankfully our security staff was there to stop them.”
The store only has two security personnel due to the small size of the store. In addition, the store still writes tickets by hand, something some, but not all, pawn shops do anymore.
The brothers said people in America "don't have any values anymore."
"In America, when I was growing up, you were proud of it. Now the government's taking control of everything. Civil liberties have run straight down the hill. This country is not what it used to be 40-50 years ago.
They feel their business "is a true family business."
"We've seen generations of people who've come into our shops because we've been there for them all these years."
Randy and Wayne are close, tight Chicago boys that do stuff “the Chicago way”, love what they do and the customers they serve.
If you’re in the Chicago area, check out Royal Pawn Shop. Their address is 428 South Clark Street, Chicago, IL 60605. Their phone number is 312-427-6542. Also, check them out on the Internet at royalpayscash.com.
Comments