Feature by Katie Childs "According to law, each borrower must be fingerprinted and photographed...."

Back to Table of Contents | Back to Main Index Previous Features | Send mail to The Voice Local pawn shop lends to the community Journalism student Joshua Jacobs checks out the diverse displays. - Thomas Moss, photo Only a short walk north from the Multnomah Bible College campus on 82nd Avenue, a bright yellow brick building sits wedged between a care center for the elderly and a fenced-in asphalt lot. MBC students pass this business every day on their way to the MAX station or to Interstate-84, yet many have never heard of Hawker's Locker, much less been inside. Hawker's Locker is a pawnshop, owned and run by Pat Butler and his partner, Al Greiser. From behind the metal bars covering the main window, a neon sign declares that the shop is open. A closer look at this window reveals cracks and two bullet wounds. Solid black metal bars also cover the door around the side of the building. A tall wooden shelf to the left of the door holds several large speakers and some CD players. A glass case to the right is packed with cameras: SLRs, point-and-shoots, and lenses of all kinds. Adjacent to the cameras is another glass case filled with knives one would find on a crocodile hunter. While the elder Butler, his long, curly brown hair pulled back with a band, hurries about the shop, two of his employees engage in a relaxed conversation across a long glass case filled with forsaken jewelry. Justin Butler, the elder Butler's nephew, and Dustin Stephen, a friend of the family, are both in their 20s. Both have closely buzzed heads and unshaven faces. Customers can quickly get lost in a maze of shelves, containers and cases. A balding man with a prominent brown beard and heavy flannel shirt digs through a large blue container filled with sockets. A sign reads "10 for $1." Several identical containers filled with wire trimmers, pliers and other hand tools line the floor. A glass case along one wall reaches nearly to the ceiling. It is packed with hundreds of used CDs. A sign taped to the glass reads, "Want to sample any CD? Ask at front counter." Butler's business is licensed in Oregon to lend money. But the pawnshop's method of collection differs from a typical loan. Borrowers bring in items such as cameras and sockets and leave them at the pawnshop in exchange for a fraction of the money that the items are worth. Typically Butler gives 20 cents on the dollar. If the borrower returns within 90 days to pay off his loan, he gets his item back. If not, it becomes the property of Hawker's Locker. People fail to return for their items about one-third of the time, the younger Butler said. He also admitted that first-time borrowing is typically the worst. People have a hard time pawning valuables for small sums of money, but the cash is fast and easy to get; many people return to borrow again. A long table covered in power tools sits along the front wall. Grinders, sanders and chainsaws are stacked atop each other with their electrical cords strewn about. Levels, snowboards and skis stand hidden behind the table. Their prices range anywhere from $70 to $135. Drugs and alcohol are a main reason that people pawn their valuables here, Butler said. Although borrowers are not required or asked to explain why they are trading their valuables for such a small sum of money, they often come in with elab-orate tales, Butler said. They feel they need to explain their circumstances or outright lie to avoid suspicion. A man once brought in an electric drum machine, although he didn't know what it was, Butler said. The man began pushing buttons and pulling knobs, all the while explaining the intricacies of a machine he did not know the purpose of. The saddest cases are the stressed- out young girls who come in with black eyes, wanting to pawn rings from their pimps, Butler said. Bass guitars and guns sit behind the counter. Also behind the counter row upon row of hooks filled with unopened packages cover the back wall. People have pawned unused batteries, single-use cameras and new glue guns. Stephen sheepishly reiterates that borrowers are not required to explain where the goods come from. According to law, each borrower must be fingerprinted and photographed, or provide a copy of a photo ID. This does not stop people from bringing in stolen items, however. Butler told of one man who brought in a stack of CDs. Each CD had a female name on it, which, upon ID verification, did not belong to the man. But the speculation of theft could not be proven. The man got his money, Hawker's Locker its CDs. Another time, a local hardware store employee called, looking for a nail gun that had just been stolen. Butler assured the man that a thief wouldn't be stupid enough to come to Hawker's Locker with it. Shortly after Butler hung up, a man came trying to pawn the nailgun, the price tag still attached. Police often come in looking for a particular item and occasionally find it, an amazing fact considering the dozens of pawn and second-hand shops in the Portland area. Once a girl came in lugging a huge boat motor. Shortly thereafter the police entered, looking for the same motor. Somehow the girl had ripped the motor off a boat and managed to drag it to a pawnshop without getting caught. "People on drugs will do anything," Stephen said. Another man brought in a ladder. Upon further investigation, with the help of vicinity detective Steve Swan, the employees deduced that it was a fire truck ladder and must have been stolen straight from the station. Every day is unique at Hawker's Locker. That is what Butler's nephew likes most about working there. New people with intriguing, although not always true, stories enter the doors of Hawker's Locker every day. Pawnshops tend to have a bad name in the public arena, Stephen said, but he enjoys his job. The bright yellow pawnshop right down the street holds a culture of its own. Back to Table of Contents | Back to Main Index Previous Features | Top Of Page Send mail to The Voice| Journalism department website © 2003 The Voice. No part of this publication may be reproduced in written or electronic form without prior written consent from the journalism adviser of Multnomah Bible College. All rights reserved.