During the decade that followed, it created 20 banks, 745 trust companies, 34 securities firms, and 180 pawn shops, the authors have calculated.

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Atlantic Avenue, the city's main drag, has been reduced from a thriving artery that pumps cars toward glitz and glamour to a haven for pawn shops, check cashers, and outlet stores.

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Thirty five percent said they are holding yard sales, using pawn shops and taking on extra work.

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Without credit (mostly for things like groceries when another expense arises), they rely on pawn shops and payday loans.

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With lower rates than traditional pawn shops and convenient transactions, online pawning could be a smart move for a new or smaller company.

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Today, AFS providers include check cashing businesses, payday lenders, pawn shops, and prepaid debit cards.

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Over the course of many trips to Baghdad, they have watched the sewers back up, the dinar plummet, pawn shops fill and babies die.

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First Cash runs 720 pawn shops in eight US states and 23 Mexican ones.

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As for pawn shops the numbers were 29 percent and 21 percent.

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While pawnbrokers are working hard to dispel the industry's aura of backstreet financial shame and transform it into a modern, slick financial service, it's clear that pawn shops still carry a stigma for many.

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Shoddy service and high charges at banks are also among the reasons why some people say they prefer to use pawn shops when they need cash.

BBC: Pawn shops thrive as credit tightens