Business & Tech

Palatine Rejects Request For Pawn Shop

Palatine Village Council rejected a request by Palatine Jewelry and Watch Shoppe to offer pawn loans.

The owner of Palatine Jewelry and Watch Shoppe said pawning already occurs in Palatine – it's just done illegally and not regulated.

Kelly Swisher made the comments after his request to be allowed to offer so-called pawn loans was rejected Monday by the village council.

"They've made it pretty clear they have no intention of allowing a pawn shop," said Swisher, owner of Palatine Jewelry and Watch Shoppe, 293 N. Northwest Hwy. "They should just take it off their ordinance completely and say they don't allow it. Why is it on there if it never gets approved?"

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Swisher had asked the council to allow his business to make pawn loans limited to jewelry and watches. A pawn loan allows a person to buy back an item. For example, a watch could be pawned for $300 and the person could, within a set time period, buy the watch back by paying the loan off plus a service fee.

"They would rather allow it to happen illegal[ly]," Swisher said.

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Swisher specifically mentioned Exquisite Jewelers, 1590 N. Rand Rd., which for operating as a pawnbroker without a license and fined $1,000 in February. The majority owner of Exquisite Jewelers, Twan Pham, said it was an isolated incident and would not happen again.

Palatine Council member Aaron Del Mar owned about 15 percent of Exquisite Jewelers. Last week Del Mar said he was not involved in the day-to-day operations of the business and did not know about the fine. He said he might sell his interest in the business.

Swisher said people enter stores with the intention of pawning items, only to learn their only option is to sell the items outright.

"The jeweler is now tempted [to say], 'well you can buy it back for this amount,' and that's what's happening," Swisher said.

The council's committee of the whole voted four to one against the request, with only District 5 council member Jack Wagner supporting it. Palatine Mayor Jim Schwantz and council members Greg Solberg, Jim Clegg and Scott Lamerand voted against it.

Council members Brad Helms and Del Mar were absent.

Schwantz said the pawn loans appeared to be an "ancillary" opportunity for Swisher and that the close proximity of his shop in Arlington Heights was a factor in the decision.

"I just think we had an opportunity, with the close proximity of his place in Arlington Heights; I felt they could just use that as their opportunity to do the collateralized loans and to not to have it in Palatine," Schwantz said.

Palatine resident Jim Hader also spoke out against the request.

"A couple of weeks ago the council sat here and denied a license for a tattoo parlor because they weren't real happy with the image that would give the village," Hader said. "And I would contend that the pawn shop has about the same image in my mind and in most people's minds. I'd hate to see a business like that coming in."

Swisher said that concerns a pawn shop would ruin Palatine's image were overblown.

"Look Naperville's not slumming it, you know. Naperville's always been put up on this pedestal as a hip, young forward thinking community. They have five pawn shops and I don't think people are moving out of Naperville in droves," Swisher said.


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