La Chic Boutique is becoming a pawn shop

[ron_newman]

as of July 1st, according to a sign outside. It now has a neon PAWN SHOP sign in its window, too. Classy.

Didn't this place start out as a vintage-goods or consignment shop, like Poor Little Rich Girl, Artifaktori, etc?

I wonder if this is the beginning of Davis Square's de-gentrification.

Your eyes will hurt after visiting their website.

Comments

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

I'd classify this less as a change and more of a "completely dropping a threadbare charade".

[totient]

This is the place with the big yellow neon "WE BUY GOLD" and white neon "WE BUY SILVER" signs? I have to agree: putting up a "PAWN SHOP" sign is a pretty small change.

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

My guess is that it took longer than they expected to get a pawnbroker's license, but agree that the line between "Cash for Gold/Silver" and secondhand goods and pawn brokerage is a thin one to everyone but the licensing authorities.

[lyonesse.livejournal.com]

er. i do believe that's been their business model all along.

[ron_newman]

I do recall that they participated in DARBI Midnight Madness for the first year or two they were open, then stopped. The DARBI organizers did not know why.

[lyonesse.livejournal.com]

i have no idea what that implies anyway.

[ron_newman]

That, for whatever reason, they no longer wanted to associate themselves with any of Somerville's other retail (and used-goods) businesses.

[grapefruiteater.livejournal.com]

That's an assumption, and a loaded one at that. There are many reasons why a business might choose not to participate in a given community event, particularly one late at night that could be hard to staff.

I'm no great supporter of pawn shops and the type of predatory lending I believe they often engage in, and I agree that an overabundance of them can be a sign of other problems in a community. But the arrival of one pawn shop in Davis Square doesn't mean the neighborhood is going to the dogs.

[secretlyironic.livejournal.com]

Technically a pawn shop is a lending establishment rather than a used-goods store. That is, you bring something in as collateral for a loan and they charge interest. If you don't pay it back, they keep your collateral.

Most pawnbrokers will also buy and sell things, but not all used-goods stores are pawnbrokers.

[ron_newman]

They haven't bothered to take down web pages such as this one which says: "We are not a Boston pawnbroker, nor do we pawn or loan money". ETA: this one too!

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

Sounds to me like they had to get a license or something...

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

You do need both state and municipal approval in Massachusetts to run a pawn brokerage.

[fefie.livejournal.com]

The website at the first link you provided now says "Boston Pawnbroker, We loan money Collateral loans in Boston, Boston Pawn Shop" .

But then the text halfway down the page still says "We are not a Boston pawnbroker, nor do we pawn or loan money. "

[makoshark.livejournal.com]

I was just about to comment on that. It's incredible.

[teko.livejournal.com]

They had a sign outside the other day that said something like "Pawn loans begin July 1".

I think up until now, they've been an erzatz pawn shop -- just a used-goods store. Now they're becoming a real deal pawnbroker.

[ron_newman]

Yes, that's the sign I referred to in my post.

[genesayssitdown.livejournal.com]

personally i find that web design somewhat inspiring

[bluesauce.livejournal.com]

Inspiring you to build a time machine and go back to 1999 and buy Geocities?

[lost-ligeia.livejournal.com]

As far as I know, they've always been a pawn shop. A jewelry dealer I know told me that their prices for gold and silver are actually pretty decent.

I once heard a cop in Davis mistakenly refer to it as "L. A. Chick Boutique," which is one of the funniest things I've ever heard. That's what I call it now.

[ron_newman]

I do think leaving a comment at the bottom of this obituary is a really tacky way to advertise their business.

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

Come on, that's classy!

[samcoren.livejournal.com]

Davis Square:
Local pawn shops OK
Craft beer watering hole chains BAD

[vonelftinhaus.livejournal.com]

^^^This exactly- I am so confused by the priority system we have here. Walked by the place the other day and it looks dreadful in there

[ron_newman]

But it's been there for years. I don't think the city has any zoning power to revoke permission for an existing business to operate, even if it changes its focus and merchandise.