The recent opening of a pawn shop on Whyte Avenue has led to some concerns from the local business association and area residents, who say it’s not a great fit for the community.
“They put something here on a tourism main street, where we are investing millions of dollars marketing this area and building it up, and then this is just not part of the business mix that makes sense,” Murray Davidson, executive director of the Old Strathcona Business Association, said.
The Cash Canada pawn shop opened on Whyte Avenue at 107 Street in mid-October. When it comes to business licences for pawn shops, they are discretionary, which means their approval is not automatic. Despite an appeal, the application for the business licence was approved.
“For us, discretion means we should talk about it, we should look at what else is in the neighbourhood and make a sound decision as to whether it is a good fit for them as well as the community,” Murray explained.
The approval of the business licence also came as a shock to city councillor Ben Henderson, who said he isn’t sure it’s in the city’s best interest to have a pawn shop on Whyte Avenue.
“It was a little bit of a surprise in this circumstance to see Whyte Avenue, that has seen a big retail success story, that a pawn shop is interested in moving back in to begin with and I think the businesses on the avenue would justifiably be concerned about that,” he explained.
The chief operating officer of Cash Canada said the company had been looking into opening a pawn shop on Whyte Avenue for several years.
“I wanted to be in that location,” Diana Machado said. “We thought Whyte Avenue would be a good area. It’s a busy area, there’s a lot of people there that is our demographic – people that need to borrow money.”
Machado said this is the first time Cash Canada has faced resistance opening a location. She said the company works hard to change people’s perceptions of pawn shops and invites people to come tour the store if they have any concerns.
“Their thinking is, ‘They’re dealing in hot items and you’re going to have some big scary guy sitting behind a counter,'” Machado said. “It’s about educating the public about the service that we’re able to provide, so we just invite them to come into our home and see what we’re about.
“We report everything to the police each night, we have virtually zero per cent of items that are stolen brought in. We’re there to provide a service for someone who needs to borrow money.”
The Old Strathcona Business Association recently presented its concerns to a city council committee. Davidson said the pawn shop operators are great to do business with, he just would have liked to have been involved in the process earlier, as he believes a different location in the area could have worked better.
“With the city, we would really like them to have conversations with stakeholders like us and the community so we can have some real meaningful engagement,” he said. “We’re all making major investments on the street. We need the city’s support to make sure we’re building the street that they want.
“It’s not a (case of) ‘not in my backyard.’ We have other locations within the business revitalization zone that are a fit for this.”
Henderson has asked city administration to look into how pawn shop licences are issued and what types of questions are being asked before they’re approved.
“Our planners argued strenuously against the case that was being made by the public,” Henderson explained. “I was really puzzled to know under what circumstances do we say no. Because I think this one was one where I think there were some real questions about whether it was the right place to put it.
“I think there’s some questions that we need to examine. We may come out the other end and go, ‘What we’re doing it right, this makes sense.'”
Henderson said Edmonton police also raised concerns about the location of the pawn shop.