LAS VEGAS ENTERTAINMENT 38

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ONLY IN VEGAS
EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED AT THE WORLD FAMOUS GOLD & SILVER
PAWN SHOP
By Heather Turk
It may be easy to shop til you drop at one of Las Vegas luxurious retail
centers, but you never know what treasures youll fnd at the World Famous
Gold & Silver Pawn Shop.
Made famous by the hit HISTORY
channel television series Pawn Stars, the
6,000-square-foot showroom in downtown
Las Vegas has become one of the citys most
popular attractions. While many visit in hopes
of seeing one of the four reality stars who run
the shop at workthe Old Man, his son Rick,
his grandson Corey and Coreys childhood
friend, Chumleeothers stop by to browse
through the numerous items up for sale.
We have everything from refrigerator
magnets to JFKs old cigar box, said Rick
Harrison, who opened the store in 1988 with
his father. Tere are more than 32,000 items
in our inventory.
Shoppers will fnd items that run the gamut
from $3 to more than $100,000everything
from Super Bowl rings and Olympic medals
to old cars and classic coinswith Chumlee
T-shirts being Gold & Silver Pawns bestseller.
Not surprisingly, given the shows success,
Rick said people bring in plenty of odd items in
hopes of getting on television.
People have brought in everything from
200-year-old porn to human skulls and home
electroshock therapy machinesnot much
shocks me anymore, Rick stated. At least
once a week I have someone bring in a copy
of the Constitution or the Declaration of
Independence their grandma said was real
and I have to break their heart and tell them it
came from a gif shop.
Visitors are cleared out of the store whenever
Pawn Stars is being flmed. Its impossible to
flm otherwise, Rick noted. Someone always
gives a fnger to the camera.
However, Rick added that Chumlee is out on
the foor signing autographs all the time, as
are Corey and the Old Man. As for Rick, hes
busy running the family business.
Tis is still a bit overwhelming, Rick stated.
[Tis year] well have new episodes of Pawn
Stars airing every week. I know 10 years from
now, though, people will go, Remember that
TV show where four fat guys ran a pawn shop?
so I fgure we should get it while we can.
Te World Famous Gold & Silver Pawn Shop
is located at 713 Las Vegas Blvd. S. and is open
daily from 9 a.m.to 9 p.m.; its pawn window
is open 24 hours. For more information, visit
gspawn.com.
Squonk Opera performs
The stars of Pawn Stars, from left to right: Austin Chumlee Russell,
Richard Old Man Harrison, Rick Harrison and Corey Big Hoss Harrison
The stars of the HISTORY channels
hit series Pawn Stars