American Jewelry and Loan

In 1978, Les was the first area pawnbroker to branch out into the suburbs when he opened his own store, American Jewelry and Loan in 1978. It was moved to its present location in 1993. Now over 50,000 square feet, the building was once a 60-lane bowling alley (four lanes still exist in working order, although the space is used for storage). Today, the store is one of the largest and most widely recognized pawn shops in the world, thanks to becoming the setting of a record-breaking American reality television show, ‘Hardcore Pawn’. Employing over 50 employees, it remains a full-service pawn shop where thousands of transactions are conducted each day – now, with an online store that enables customers and fans throughout the world to do business at the store whose motto has always been ‘Where Detroit Cashes In’.