CPI. PPI. JOLTS. There are a lot of economic indicators out there. While many of those signals are lagging, they help give us a sense of the economy’s health. But there are other, less formal — and often more immediate — signals, too.
Take pawn shops, for example. A spike in activity can sometimes point to economic strain as more people look for quick cash. Marketplace’s David Brancaccio wanted to learn more about what pawn shops can tell us about the economy.
So he visited a nearly 60-year-old pawn shop in West Hollywood — once a radio and TV repair shop — where he spoke with owner Elliott Salter, who runs “Elliott Salter Gives Instant Loans,” and shop manager Dave Ingber, who’s been there for roughly 25 years.
The following is an edited transcript of their conversation.
Behind the counter…
An “instant loan” sign hangs above a wide collection of musical instruments and taxidermied animals.
Erika Soderstrom/Marketplace
David Brancaccio: It’s like a whole scene coming in here, but just give me a sense of what I’m looking at as you look around.
Elliott Salter: OK — up on the top shelf, there’s some kind of, it looks like a warship, a wooden warship. There’s a sailboat.
Brancaccio: There’s vintage cameras, like from the late 19th century — a couple of those. Maybe even audio equipment.
Salter: Excuse me. Thank you. OK, all right, Gladstone — take care. Good luck in selling them, OK.
Brancaccio: Lot of guitars. So, I mean, like, all sorts of stuff. Some stuffed wildlife.
Salter: Yeah, yeah, taxidermy. Let’s put it this way: I have been doing this a long time. I mean, even before I opened my own store. And I always had an eye for unusual and quirky stuff. I guess it’s a form of hoarding, but since it’s interesting, it’s more of a collection.
Brancaccio: I’ll give you the collection, because it’s not ramshackle. There’s order here.
Salter: You may see order; I see chaos.
Brancaccio: And over to Dave behind the counter. What else is coming in these days?
Dave Ingber: What else is coming in? I mean, people are really scrounging.
And the larger economy?
Brancaccio: But Dave, that tells you something about the state of the economy, when people are scrounging for something to bring in?
Salter: They need money today…
Ingber: And a lot of times, people are coming in for gas money.
Brancaccio: Ouch. I can give you economic statistic after economic statistic — some of them delayed because of government shutdowns and so forth — but setting that aside, Elliot, how’s the economy here going into the spring of 2026, judging from what you see here?
Salter: You know, I always look at it this way — when my business is real good, it’s not a good thing.
Brancaccio: So, business is all right, right now?
Salter: It’s OK. We are being much more frugal with what we’re loaning. I mean, I have some guys that have six guitars on loan. Do they need six guitars? Eh, they think they do.
Brancaccio: You’re “tightening lending standards,” is how Bank of America would say it. But being a little bit careful, because you’re wondering about, what? Can people actually pay this back?
Salter: Yeah, yeah, that’s an important part of it. I always try to tell people what time span was, the last four months? “Oh, man, that went by quick.” Well, what about the next four months? “Oh, that’s a long way away.”
Brancaccio: You’re describing something that economists are focused on, which is, “We see the next two weeks pretty clearly, but everything after that is kind of this blur.”
Inside the shop…
Brancaccio: I’ve got a Rolleiflex, look at that. I have a Rayleigh chord. What is that? $22.95. All right, that’s cool. Got some jewelry.
Salter: Lots of jewelry. Jewelry takes up very little space, but there’s a lot of [it]. I mean, this is probably, what would you say, an inventory — this is half cost-wise, or value-wise?
Ingber: Way more than half, I’d say, yeah, because it’s made out of gold.
Brancaccio: Yeah, a notice here, I think is an important one: Notice, gold and silver prices are subject to change. Indeed.
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