The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Pawn shop in Philadelphia survives another pandemic
PHILADELPHIA— The phone calls started in late March. Customers were worried Carver W. Reed & Co. might have been deemed a “nonessential” business and forced to close during the pandemic.
“We’re still here,” company owner Tod Gordon reassured them .“The last pandemic couldn’ t shut us down, and neither will this one.”
The “last pandemic” was the deadly Spanish Flu outbreak of 1918, which decimated Philadelphia but not Carver W. Reed’s pawn shop. The company, founded in 1860, has since survived two World Wars, the Great Depression, anti- war protests and many social, economic and political upheavals.
COVID- 19 has been no match for the company’s staying power.
It has, however, wrecked plans for the 160th anniversary party Gordon had been hoping to host last spring at the shop. The anniversary party was repeatedly rescheduled. But here it is, mid- October, and Gordon is still too anxious about the virus to plan even a limited gathering.
“A lot of people are hurting. I don’t think we should celebrate anything this year. But it’s disappointing,” said Gordon, 65, whose son, Charles, and daughter, Rebecca, also work at the business he runs with his wife, Adrienne. “Iwanted to thank my customers for helping us hit this big milestone birthday.”
The pawn industry lost some of its bread- and- butter customers to the gold boom of 2009. Once regular patrons’ gold was gone, they had nothing left to borrow against. Some shops went under as a result. Gordon stayed solvent but still mourns those whose repeat business once brought him more than a healthy bottomline.
“I know these people, I know their kids and grandkids — their families have been coming here for years. Customers become like friends,” he said. That’s why, he’ll “bend over backwards” to help a struggling customer retrieve their pawned pieces, extending the company’s grace period for payback.
Carver W. Reed’s namesake founder opened his shop across from City Hall. It moved to 10th and Sansom in 1888 and has been there ever since. The original Carver Reed sold the business to Tod’s grandfather and passed it to Tod’s father, who passed it to him.